China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
Synthetic Seeds Vis-A-Vis Cryopreservation: An Efficient Technique for Long-Term Preservation of Endangered Medicinal Plants
Published in Amit Baran Sharangi, K. V. Peter, Medicinal Plants, 2023
Md. Nasim Ali, Syandan Sinha Ray
Effects of sodium alginate and calcium chloride on synthetic seed production have been studied elaborately to date. Major influential parameters for generating effective beads are considered to be the concentration and polymerization time of both of these chemicals. In general, most of the cases, 3% sodium alginate coupled with 100 mM of calcium chloride are found to be most effective and promising for the production of synthetic seed for several plant species, i.e., Rauvolfia tetraphylla L. (Faisal et al., 2006); Tylophora indica (Burm. f.) Merrill (Faisal and Anis, 2007); Cassia angustifolia VAHL (Bukhari et al., 2014). Concentrations of both of these chemicals are also subjected to change for getting optimum response as suggested by findings of Andlib et al. (2011) for Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni; Haque et al. (2015) for Bacopa chamaedryoides.
Impact of Sulphur Dioxide Deposition on Medicinal Plants' Growth and Production of Active Constituents
Published in Azamal Husen, Environmental Pollution and Medicinal Plants, 2022
Shakeelur Rahman, Azamal Husen
The lowest plant height of Aloe vera was reported from plants grown in the soil of rich acid sulphate (Chowdhury et al. 2018). The highest fresh leaf gel weight was obtained from plants grown in calcareous soil, which was identical to the gel weight of plants grown in acid soil. Zaman et al. (2015) recorded similar findings in the case of Stevia rebaudiana as the tallest plant and highest numbers of leaves were counted from non-calcareous soil and the shortest plant and an identical number of leaves from acid sulphate soil. An identical number of leaves are produced in saline soils. Improved presentation of non-calcareous and calcareous soils might be due to their moderate pH, good soil texture, less water holding capacity, and higher nutrient contents compared to other soils. These findings were in good agreement with the results reported by Khanom et al. (2008) and Zaman et al. (2015) for Stevia rebaudiana. The plant grown in acid sulphate soil has the lowest fresh weight, which was identical to the fresh weight of the plant grown in peat soil. Better performance of acid soil might be due to having pH less than 7, strongly acid in reaction with the moderate status of organic matter and low moisture-holding capacity.
Nutraceutical Herbs and Insulin Resistance
Published in Robert E.C. Wildman, Richard S. Bruno, Handbook of Nutraceuticals and Functional Foods, 2019
Giuseppe Derosa, Pamela Maffioli
Stevia rebaudiana is one such herb of the genus Stevia, widely grown for its sweet leaves. Its glycosides are stevioside and rebaudoside, which are 250–300 times sweeter than sucrose, heat stable, pH stable, and non-fermentable.71 Stevia has several beneficial effects, such as helping in weight control, the management of diabetes, control of dental caries, anti-fungal and antibacterial properties, a healing effect on blemishes and cuts, blood pressure management, and aiding immune modulation. It is completely safe and non-toxic.71 The possible glucose-lowering action may be due to the direct impact of steviosides on pancreatic beta cells to secrete more insulin and to improve their function in gluco-toxicity. It can also impose its hypoglycemic effect, as it enhances the first phase insulin response and concomitantly suppresses the glucagon levels.72
Do steviol glycosides affect the oxidative and genotoxicity parameters in BALB/c mice?
Published in Drug and Chemical Toxicology, 2022
Şemsi Gül Yılmaz, Aslı Uçar, Serkan Yılmaz
Stevia is a sweetener and sugar substitute derived from the leaves of Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni. This plant species is a member of the Asteraceae family and was first cultivated in the Amambay region, north of Paraguay, and then in Brazil and Argentina. Presently, S. rebaudiana is cultivated worldwide, mainly in Asia, Europe, and Canada (Hossain et al.2010, Lemus-Mondaca et al.2012). Steviol glycosides (SG) are natural steviols, i.e., diterpene derivatives, that are responsible for the sweetness of the S. rebaudiana leaves. Approximately 40 varieties of SG, especially stevioside, rebaudioside A, B, C, and dulchoside have been identified. Stevioside, the most well-known glycoside, has a steviol structure that is formed from the binding of three molecules of glucose to an aglycone. Stevioside is a natural component with a high level of sweetness that is extracted from stevia leaves (Barriocanal et al.2008, Goyal and Goyal 2010).
Copper oxide (CuO) and manganese oxide (MnO) nanoparticles induced biomass accumulation, antioxidants biosynthesis and abiotic elicitation of bioactive compounds in callus cultures of Ocimum basilicum (Thai basil)
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2021
Saher Nazir, Hasnain Jan, Gouhar Zaman, Taimoor Khan, Hajra Ashraf, Bisma Meer, Muhammad Zia, Samantha Drouet, Christophe Hano, Bilal Haider Abbasi
The results showed that the highest antioxidant activities (ABTS: 881.4 µM TEAC, DPPH: 94.7% and FRAP: 386 µM TEAC) were found in cultures exposed to 10 mg/L CuO-NPs while callus elicited with MnO-NPs (25 mg/L) were found with optimum activities (ABTS: 749 µM TEAC, DPPH: 91.1% and FRAP: 428 µM TEAC) as compard with control. The results were found to be descending by increasing the concentrations of both types of nanoparticles (Table 3). Our findings are strongly supported by earlier reports where CuO-NPs increased the antioxidant activities in Stevia rebaudiana shoots and callus culture [47,56]. Antioxidant activity findings disclosed a significant relationship with secondary metabolites. CuO-NPs considerably improved phytochemical levels in O.basilicum callus culture that eventually increased its antioxidative capacity. A positive correlation between the phenolic profile and antioxidant ability was also noted, which is consistent with the results of previous reports [70, 71].
Dietary prophage inducers and antimicrobials: toward landscaping the human gut microbiome
Published in Gut Microbes, 2020
Lance Boling, Daniel A. Cuevas, Juris A. Grasis, Han Suh Kang, Ben Knowles, Kyle Levi, Heather Maughan, Katelyn McNair, Maria Isabel Rojas, Savannah E. Sanchez, Cameron Smurthwaite, Forest Rohwer
Stevia, an artificial sweetener extracted from the plant species Stevia rebaudiana, was the most potent prophage inducer with an increase of 410% and 321% VLPs detected from B. thetaiotaomicron and S. aureus, respectively. Several studies have demonstrated the antimicrobial potential of stevia extracts,34–36 but none has proposed a mechanism of action. Abundant terpenes may be responsible for the antimicrobial properties of stevia (as reviewed by37). Our results agree with this possibility, in that terpenes have been shown to be more effective against gram-positive bacteria (E. faecalis and S. aureus). Tomita et al.36 showed that fermented stevia is effective against food-borne pathogenic bacteria, with no significant killing of gut microbes.36 A stevoside mixture from Stevia rebaudiana has also been shown to be anti-tumorigenic,38,39 which may involve proviral induction. Together, these studies and our results suggest stevia could be used to manipulate the gut microbiome.