Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2013 in |
Thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.) is a pleasant smelling perennial shrub, which grows in several regions in the world. The plant is reported to have high economic and medicinal values. The objectives of this research was to determine antimicrobial activity of petroleum ether, chloroform and hydroalcoholic extracts obtained from leaves of Thymus vulgaris collected from Oman. The other objective was to determine cytotoxic activity of the three extracts. Antimicrobial activity was measured using disc diffusion method against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumonia. Brine shrimp test was used to estimate cytotoxic activity. In antibacterial assay, Thymus vulgaris leaves extracts showed very strong results, inhibition zones ranged from 7 – 20 mm. So this plant can be used as a good source of potential antimicrobial agent.Petroleum ether showed the highest antibacterial activity. Furthermore, Petroleum ether and Chloroform extracts have almost killed all the shrimp larvae at higher concentration of 1000 mcg/ml. LC50 values for the two extracts were 85.2 and 95.8 mcg/ml, respectively. Polar fractions like hydro alcoholic...
Read More
Posted by admin on Nov 1, 2013 in |
Chitosan is a natural polysaccharide which is widely exploited for its various applications. It has received much attention as a functional biopolymer especially in pharmaceutics and medicine because of its better biodegradability, biocompatibility, versatility and availability. The unique biological applications of chitosan are attributed to these specific properties. The chemical and biological modification of chitosan is mainly done to increase its solubility in aqueous solutions and absorbability in the in vivo system. A variety of chemical modifications are employed to modify this carbohydrate polymer. The modifications of chitosan are influenced by several factors such as molecular weight of chitosan, viscosity, reaction conditions etc. The selective biological applications include antimicrobial, hypocholesterolemic, antitumor, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition, excluding toxins from the intestines, reducing heavy-metal poisoning in humans, mucoadhesive haemostatic, analgesic, radio-protective properties, preventing tooth decay and tooth diseases and immunity enhancing activities. It is also widely useful in biomedical industries and food industries. The present paper reviews the current trend of investigation on various useful modifications on chitosan and their applications...
Read More
Posted by admin on Oct 1, 2013 in |
Herbal extracts are primarily added to the cosmetic formulations due to several associated properties such as antioxidant, anti inflammatory, antiseptic and antimicrobial properties. Even today, people in rural and urban areas depend upon herbs for traditional cosmetics. Information on the herbal cosmetics was collected via electronic search (using pub med, scifinder, Google Scholar and web of science) and library search for articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Furthermore, information also was obtained from some local books on ethnopharmacology. The herbal extracts, as a whole or part, have been used for various ailments of the skin, hair, and dental care for overall appearance. Cosmetics alone are not sufficient to take care of skin and others body parts, it requires association of active ingredients to check the damage and ageing of the skin. Herbal cosmetics have gained much popularity among the population. Herbal cosmetics products claimed to have efficacy and intrinsic acceptability due to routine use in daily life and avoid the side effects which are commonly seen in synthetic products. Due...
Read More
Posted by admin on Oct 1, 2013 in |
On the basis of various literature survey, imidazole derivatives show various activity such as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antitubercular, anticancer etc. The possible improvements in the activity can be further achieved by slight modifications in the substituents on the basic imidazole nucleus. Having structural similarity with histidine imidazole compound can bind with protein molecules with ease compared to the some other heterocyclic moieties. Thus imidazole offers better pharmacodynamic characteristics. Furthermore, some imidazole drugs, at high concentrations, could exert direct inhibitory effects on membranes, without interference with sterols and sterol esters. Various recent new drugs developments in imidazole derivatives show better effect and less toxicity. Prompted by the broad spectrum activities of 2, 4, 5- triphenylimidazole derivatives, it was decided to synthesize various 2, 4, 5-triphenyl-1-substituted imidazoles and to evaluate them for their pharmacological...
Read More
Posted by admin on Oct 1, 2013 in |
Cymbidium aloifolium is a potent medicinal epiphytic orchid plant in the Indian systems of medicine. Traditionally this plant was used in the treatment of Anti-inflammatory, Paralysis, joining fractured bones, fever, weakness of eyes, chronic illness, burns, sores etc. In the present study three different solvent (Hexane, Chloroform, Methanol) extracts ofCymbidium aloifolium plant was studied for Antibacterial activity by Agar Well Diffusion method against ten clinical pathogenic bacteria. It was observed that Chloroform extract showed significant activity than the Methanol and hexane extracts. Preliminary phytochemical screening of this plant revealed that the presences of Simple sugars, Alkaloids, Tannins, Flavonoids, Anthraquinones, Terpenoids etc. The presence of bioactive constituents is associated with the antimicrobial activity.Antibacterial activity of various solvent extracts of this plant was carried in attempt to support the use by medicinal practitioner for the treatment of various diseases. Medicinal importance of this orchid will target to meet the therapeutic...
Read More