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Catalog of Herbs
Published in James A. Duke, Handbook of Medicinal Herbs, 2018
The L isomer of dopa [3-(3,4-dihydroxyphenyl) alanine] is said to occur at 1.7% of the fresh weight of the latex. l-Dopa is used for symptomatic relief of Parkinson’s disease, and is said to have produced some astounding rejuvenating effects, even priapism, on some senile males who took it. Leaves contain quercetin, quercetin-3-beta-d-glucuronide, kaempferol, kaempferol 3-glucuronide, beta-sitosterol, p-coumaric acid, and ferulic acid. Stalks contain hentriacontane, taraxerone, taraxerol, beta-sitosterol, and betulin. The energy-promising latex contains 0.5% 3,4-dioxyphenylalanine. Sachs et al.160 got 6.2% rosin content (hydrocarbons) in nonirrigated, compared to 4.4% on irrigated plots. The benzene extract of the leaves is said to contain 0.1% (% of plant dry weight) rubber, and 0.2% wax; the acetone extract 13.7% glycerides, 2.2% isoprenoids, and 8.3% other terpinoids. The acetone extract of the seeds contains 40% glyceride. The seed is reported to contain 15% protein and 40 to 47.5% fat. Seed contain beta-sitosterol, 7-hentriacontane, and daphnetin.33 I believe that if all plants are studied in detail, they will be found to contain both carcinogens and antitumor or cytotoxic compounds. This one contains the antitumor compound beta-sitosterol and the cocarcinogen ingenol-3-hexadecanic acid ester (C36H58O6.
Abies Spectabilis (D. Don) G. Don (Syn. A. Webbiana Lindl.) Family: Coniferae
Published in L.D. Kapoor, Handbook of Ayurvedic Medicinal Plants, 2017
Chemical constituents — The roots of the plant were reported to contain an alkaloid abromine, C16H13NO, mp 283 to 285°C, friedelin, and abromasterol A, mp 125.5°C. Later on isolation of taraxeryl acetate, taraxerol, β-sitosterol, and low-melting neutral compound from the petroleum ether extract of the leaves was reported.14–16The identity of abromine was confirmed as betaine. Besides, β-sitosterol and stigmasterol were also isolated from the nonsaponifiable fraction of the petroleum ether extract of root.17
Selective Antimicrobial Agents from Terrestrial Plants A Hope in the Battle of Infection
Published in Mahendra Rai, Chistiane M. Feitosa, Eco-Friendly Biobased Products Used in Microbial Diseases, 2022
Fadia S. Youssef, Mohamed L. Ashour
In December 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic causing severe pneumonia was triggered by SARS-CoV-2, a novel coronavirus, has threatened peoples’ health all over the globe. By October 2020, SARS-CoV-2 resulted in more than 33 million infected people and over 1 million deaths according to the World Health Organization (Alesawy et al. 2021). This acts as a driving force encouraging scientists to search for therapeutic weapons to combat this lethal virus. Thus, an in silico study has recently been conducted on the different metabolites identified by the GC-MS analysis of 12 Clerodendrum species within the active sites of RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, the imperative spike protein and main protease enzyme Mpro of SARS-CoV-2. An in-depth molecular docking study revealed that some metabolites such as friedelin (39), taraxerol (40), as well as stigmasterol (41) exerted a strong inhibitory potential with the active sites of the targeted proteins. Physicochemical attributes of the compounds are following Lipinski’s rule of five as well as Veber’s rule. The estimation of Molecular Mechanics-Generalized Born Surface Area (MM-GBSA) binding free energy showed that taraxerol exerted the firm binding within the active sites of all the targeted SARS-CoV-2 proteins. This observation was further ascertained by robust molecular dynamics simulations of the complexes of the viral proteins with taraxerol. It is concluded that taraxerol displayed better binding energy scores with the targeted viral proteins than the drugs specifically targeted against them, thus serving as a promising tool against SARS-CoV-2 infection that needs further in vivo studies (Kar et al. 2020).
Multivariate Analysis of Butterfly Pea (Clitoria ternatea L.) Genotypes With Potentially Healthy Nutraceuticals and Uses
Published in Journal of Dietary Supplements, 2023
Several phytochemicals have been found in butterfly pea roots, leaves, flowers, and seeds including taraxerol, flavonols, flavonoids, and protein with potential health benefits ranging from wound treatment, treatment of free radical issues, cosmetic, antioxidant activity, and fungicidal activities (Table 5).
Sageretia thea (Osbeck.) modulated biosynthesis of NiO nanoparticles and their in vitro pharmacognostic, antioxidant and cytotoxic potential
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2018
Ali Talha Khalil, Muhammad Ovais, Ikram Ullah, Muhammad Ali, Zabta Khan Shinwari, Dilawar Hassan, Malik Maaza
A green route for the biosynthesis of NiO nanoparticles has been revealed using the aqueous leaf extracts of S. thea. Biomimetic synthesis of nanoparticles is considered more acceptable and eco-friendly [17,45–52]. Sageretia thea has well-documented medicinal uses and been used as tea in parts of Korea and China. Various compound like Syringic acid, Taraxerol, Quercetin, Kaempferol, Myricetrin and Daucosterol, etc. [53–55] have been isolated which can play a role in reduction and stabilization in the biosynthesis of nanoparticles. A plausible mechanism for the biosynthesis is indicated in Figure 14. Mostly phenolic and flavonoid compounds are involved in the biosynthesis of nanoparticles, however, the exact mechanism by which nanoparticles are produced is an open area of research. Successful green synthesis of NiO nanoparticles using plants has also been previously reported by various researchers [2,8,17,29]. Single and pure phase of NiO nanoparticles were successfully demonstrated through characterization techniques. Good antibacterial potential can be concluded for the as synthesized NiO nanoparticles. In general, gram positive bacterial strains were found to be more susceptible which is in good agreement with the previous studies [2,56]. UV illumination increased the antibacterial activity of nanoparticles. The role of UV illumination in enhancement of the ROS generation has been previously established which is considered as the mechanism for bacterial growth inhibition [57]. The precise antibacterial mechanism against particular type of bacteria is however debatable. Proposed electrostatic interactions between the negatively charged bacterial cell membrane and positively charged nickel ions (Ni++), released from the nickel oxide nanoparticles may penetrate inside the cell wherein it interferes with cellular physiology leading to their disruption. NiO can also alter the membrane permeability leading to protein leakage [58,59] Enhancement of the antibacterial activity after UV illumination could be the generation of holes (h+) and electrons (e−) which has higher oxidizing and reducing abilities. Hence, they may react subsequently with water, hydroxyl ions and oxygen to yield further reactive oxygen species like H2O2•, O2•− and •OH, that possess a significant tendency to destroy the cells by interfering with proteins, DNA, mitochondria and other cellular components [60,61]. Sageretia thea aqueous leaf extracts were found capable for producing small size nanoparticles ∼18 nm. Size is a crucial factor in the antimicrobial properties of nanoparticles [62,63]. Smaller size is associated with enhanced antimicrobial nature. Cytotoxic nature of bioinspired NiO nanoparticles has been indicated in recent reports which are in agreement to our findings [2]. The cytotoxic nature of bioinspired nanoparticles was confirmed against Leishmania promastigotes, amastigotes and brine shrimps. Moderate antioxidant and enzyme inhibition activities are reported.