Posted by admin on May 1, 2014 in |
Achyranthes aspera L. (family: Amaranthaceae), an erect and much branched diffuse herb is a medicinal plant, frequently found in tropical and warmer regions as weed. The plants are reported to contain following major classes of compounds: fatty acids, a number of oleonic acid, bisdesmosidic, triterpenoid based saponins, ecdysterone, n-hexacos-14- enoic, oleanolic acid, triacontanol, spinasterol,dihydroxy ketones, spathulenol, alkaloids, D-glucuronic, Betaine, Achyranthine and various amino acids. This acrid, bitter plant has been used as indigenous medicine and commonly used by traditional healers for the treatment of various diseases. Though almost all of its parts are used in traditional systems of medicines, seeds, roots and shoots are the most important parts which are used medicinally. The present article gives an account of updated information on its classification, morphology, geographical sources, phytochemical and pharmacological properties. The review reveals that wide numbers of phytochemical constituents have been isolated from the plant which possesses activities like antiperiodic, antiasthmatic, hepatoprotective, anti-allergic, expectorant, stomach tonic, laxative, antihelmintic, diuretic, linthontriptic, sudorific, demulcent, anti-inflammatory, anticataract, antifungal, antibacterial, hypoglycemic, antihyperlipidemic...
Read More
Posted by admin on May 1, 2014 in |
Probiotic formulations are now widely accepted throughout the world for therapeutic applications as these organisms have a long history of safe use (GRAS). There are two main challenges to make a probiotic formulation viable for commercial utilization. The first one is the quality of health attributes that the probiotic organisms can confer and the second one is the stability of the formulation till the end of its shelf life. With our promising probiotic blend (a mixture of probiotic organisms) as API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient), we have tried to develop a sachet containing probiotic formulation by using different types of excipients and packaging options. Among the excipients that were tried, a commercial variety of mannitol was found to be most suitable. Appropriate packaging material is most vital for enhancement of the shelf life of a formulation. Three types of laminates were used for making sachets for protecting the probiotic formulation against moisture and oxygen. Among them, type 1 (combination of Paper/ Polyethylene/Aluminium foil/ Polyethylene) was found to give maximum protection...
Read More
Posted by admin on May 1, 2014 in |
Oxidative stress is found to be one of the major causes of health hazards in the present global scenario. The traditional herbs and medicinal plants have been investigated for the presence of natural antioxidants, which have incredible effects in the prevention of various oxidative stress associated diseases. The objective of present investigation is to assess the antioxidant capacity and phytochemical analysis of selected endemic medicinal plants viz., Abutilon indicum, Albezia odoratissima, Aglaia elaegnoides, Calicarpa tomentosa, Colebrookia oppostifolia and Pterocarpus marsupium. The antioxidant potentiality of these medicinal plants was assayed by 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picryl hydrazyl (DPPH), hydroxyl, superoxide radical scavenging and lipid peroxidation assays, total antioxidant potential by Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. Qualitative phytochemical analysis revealed that ethanolic bark extract of A. odoratissima showed positive results for the presence of alkaloids, phenols, flavonoids, tannins, anthraquinones and saponins. The plants with high phenol contents showed high antioxidant activity. The results showed that ethanolic bark extract of A. odoratissima exhibited highest antioxidant activity by possessing considerably high...
Read More
Posted by admin on May 1, 2014 in |
Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a lent virus that cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a state in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive. HIV-1 protease is a retroviral aspartyl protease (retropepsin) that is essential for the life-cycle of HIV, the retrovirus that causes AIDS. HIV Wild type (PDB: 3EKV) and Mutated (PDB: 3NU9) proteins structures were retrieved from Protein Data Bank in order to check the consistency of ligand’s interactions even if mutated viral attack is present. Docking is frequently used to predict the binding orientation of small moleculedrug candidates to their protein targets in order to in turn predict the affinity and activity of the small molecule. Docking study of the target protein was done with natural compounds derived from Annona Squamosa to find the preferred orientation and binding affinity of drug with target protein using scoring functions. Annona squamosa is a small, well-branched tree or shrub from the family Annonaceae that bears edible fruits called sugar-apples....
Read More
Posted by admin on May 1, 2014 in |
The present study is done to study and optimize the process of enzyme-assisted extraction of Chebulinic acid from the dried fruit of Terminalia chebula. A selective extraction process after the treatment with enzymes is proposed by using 30% (v/v) methanol which releases increased yield of the Chebulinic acid, present in the dried fruit compare to aqueous extract. The optimal conditions were as follows: pH value was 4.5, concentration of cellulase solution was 2.5 mg/mL, incubation time was 8 h, and incubation temperature was 50 º C and solid: solvent ratio was 1:8.Enzymes have the ability to degrade or disrupt cell walls and membranes, thus enabling better release and more efficient extraction of bioactives. Enzyme-assisted extraction methods are gaining more attention because of the need for eco-friendly extraction technologies. Enzyme-assisted extraction was proven to be highly efficient in the designing, process development and standardization of extraction of marker compound from herbal drugs and could be used in making enriched phytopharmaceuticals which may be translated into herbal drug for treating a...
Read More
