An Overview of Important Endemic Plants and Their Products in Iran
Raymond Cooper, Jeffrey John Deakin in Natural Products of Silk Road Plants, 2020
Zea mays (Figure 7.34), corn, is an annual plant growing up to 2 m at a fast rate. The species is monoecious. It is suitable to grow in light (sandy), medium (loamy), and heavy (clay) soils and prefers well-drained soil. It is suitable to grow in the soil with acid and neutral pH. It cannot grow in the shade. It prefers moist soil. A decoction of the leaves and roots is used in the treatment of strangury, dysuria, and gravel. The corn silks are cholagogue, demulcent, diuretic, lithontriptic, mildly stimulant, and vasodilator. They also act to reduce blood sugar levels and so are used in the treatment of diabetes mellitus as well as cystitis, gonorrhea, gout, etc. A decoction of the cob is used in the treatment of nose bleeds and menorrhagia. The seed is diuretic and a mild stimulant. It is a good emollient poultice for ulcers, swellings, and rheumatic pains and is widely used in the treatment of cancer, tumors, and warts. The plant is said to have anticancer properties and is experimentally hypoglycemic and hypotensive. In industry, it is used for making paper, animal and bird food (Zargari, 2014; Mozaffarian, 2011; Plant for a Future; Bhaigyabati et al., 2011).
Materialism and reductionism in science and medicine
R. Paul Thompson, Ross E.G. Upshur in Philosophy of Medicine, 2017
By the 1930s, reductionist science had led to the view that genes were fundamental and that the phenotype (adult whole organism) was the result of genes. Hence, the phenotype was explainable in terms of a lower level – genes. McClintock was awarded her PhD in Botany from Cornell University in 1927. She worked on Zea mays (maize in most of the world, corn in North America). She viewed the whole organism and the various parts as equal partners and not as levels underlying other levels, as in a reductionist view. Her research led to transposable genes (so-called jumping genes). The mechanism requires that each part of the whole – the lower-level parts making up the whole – function in part autonomously and in part as an element in the whole. That is, the whole has a determining role in the functioning of the part and the part has a role in determining the functioning of the whole. There are no parts (as in the case of atoms) that determine the whole (as in the case of molecules). Wholes and parts are in a feedback system. Her work has spawned more than a half-century of philosophical and theoretical research on ideas like self-organising systems and self-regulating systems. Her work also had a transformative effect on cytogenetics – a field whose origin she helped establish. In 1983, she was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her work on cytogenetics and transposable genes.
Nutritional Attributes of Cereal Grains And Legumes as Functional Food: A Review
Megh R. Goyal, Durgesh Nandini Chauhan in Plant- and Marine-Based Phytochemicals for Human Health, 2018
Zea mays is the richest source of macronutrients such as potassium, having diuretic properties. Corn silk fraction is also enriched with various phenols, maizenic acid, gum, and oils. Thus, it is used as a medicinal source for the treatment of nephrites, diuresis, hypoglycemia, nephrotoxicity, and as an anti-inflammatory and anti-fatigue agent. Zea mays is a rich source of vitamin B complex, which supports the functioning of brain, hair, heart, skin, and digestion.138 Presence of vitamin E has been reported to circumvent the development of atherosclerosis.108 Lecithin is a major fatty acid component in Zea mays; and when bound to sugar molecules it leads to the inhibition of some virus activity. Similarly, many other bioactive molecules including resistant starch in Zea mays helps in lowering cholesterol, atherosclerosis, and the risk of cervical cancer.104 It has also been reported that it may possess prebiotic potential.156 Carotenoids present in Zea mays may reduce melanoma cancer cells, gastric cancer cells, and leukemia cells.62, 114 Bioactive fatty acid molecules are reported to be effective against bone loss, anti-inflammatory, and antidiabetic effect.11 Anthocyanins have been reported to be antidiabetic, anti-inflammatory, lipid-lowering, antiatherogenic, and inhibit platelet aggregation.138
Overview on zein protein: a promising pharmaceutical excipient in drug delivery systems and tissue engineering
Published in Expert Opinion on Drug Delivery, 2018
Zea maysL. or corn is one of the most important crops for all populations throughout the world. It comprises high nutritive values due to the existence of several components including the proteins. It has from 6% to 12% protein based on its dry weight. Seventy-five percent of this protein lies in the tissues of endosperm while the 25% remaining are divided between the germ and barn. Corn protein is differentiated into four types, namely, albumins, globulins, glutelin, and zein [8]. John Gorham named zein in 1821. He was able to isolate and identify it in Zea on the same year [22]. It is mainly in the endosperm and believed to belong to prolamines protein class having a molecular weight of about 40 kDa [23]. However, a more recent study showed that α and δ zein are the only ones considered as prolamine proteins while β and γ zein are considered glutelin [24]. Although it has a low nutritive value as it lacks essential amino acids as lysine and tryptophan, zein comprises in its content several peptides that differ in solubility and molecular weights, and it is rich in glutamic acid, leucine, proline, and alanine [25]. The presence of these large molecular weight peptides renders it hydrophobic [26]. Pure zein is odorless, tasteless solid, water insoluble, alcohol soluble, biologically biodegradable, and most of all is edible [27]. These properties allowed for the diverse utility of zein in several industrial fields.
Distribution, contamination, toxicity, and potential risk assessment of toxic metals in media from Arufu Pb–Zn–F mining area, northeast Nigeria
Published in Toxin Reviews, 2021
Adeniyi J. Adewumi, Temitope A. Laniyan, Phillips R. Ikhane
Arufu, a community in Taraba state, Northeastern Nigeria is located between latitude 7°50′N and longitude 9°15′E (Figure 1). The topography of this area is undulating and has an elevation of about 300 meters above sea level. The area covers about 90 km2 in size. The major land-use in this area consists of farmlands, residential apartments, and mining. The main anthropogenic activities in this area are artisanal mining and agricultural practices. Alluvial soils are the most common soil type in this area. Stream in the area is structurally controlled and is dendritic in nature. The stream is a tributary of River Benue. The area has a tropical wet-dry climate with a temperature of 29.8 °C (Climate-data 2018). Rainfall is generally moderate with annual average precipitation of 1205 mm (Climate-data 2018). The relative humidity is in the order of 30–60% (Iloeje 1981). The vegetation in Arufu is the savannah wood type, typified by tall grass, shrub, and a few trees ranging in height from 3 to 6 m. The major plants grown in the area are maize (Zea mays), onion (Allium cepa), and mango (Mangifera indica). Geologically, the area is located within the mid-Benue Trough and is type locality for Pb–Zn mineralization in Nigeria. The dominant rock type in the area is the Lower Cretaceous carbonate interfingering the crystalline basement rocks (Akande et al.1988). In this area, the most dominant mineralization is the Pb–Zn–F which is one of the few places such mineralization occurs in Nigeria.
Sustainable production of biomass and industrially important secondary metabolites in cell cultures of selfheal (Prunella vulgaris L.) elicited by silver and gold nanoparticles
Published in Artificial Cells, Nanomedicine, and Biotechnology, 2019
Hina Fazal, Bilal Haider Abbasi, Nisar Ahmad, Mohammad Ali, Syed Shujait Ali, Abbas Khan, Dong-Qing Wei
Application of nanoparticles significantly influenced the establishment of cell cultures in P. vulgaris. The literature is still limited that know the effect of nanoparticles on the progression and development of different plant tissues and cells. The effect of nanoparticles not only restricted to growth regulation but also prominently affected the pathways of secondary metabolism. Here, the combination of nanotechnology and plant tissue culture produce promising results in suspended cells of P. vulgaris that further need insight view of molecular mechanism. In some plant species, the application of nanoparticles produced positive results but their accumulation in plant tissues and its subsequent release to the environment are still contradictory [2]. The effect of nanoparticles varies with plant species, with age and type of tissues selected for applications [33]. Previously, in plant species like Hordeum vulgare and Linum usitatissimum, AgNPs negatively affected the process of seed germination [5,34]. Contrarily, the growth of Zea mays and Phaseolus vulgaris were enhanced using the same NPs [35,36]. Herewith, the synergistic application of Ag and Au NPs along with NAA showed positive effects on cell culture development. Moreover, the same combinations during phases of growth kinetics (lag, log, stationary and decline) enhanced fresh and dry biomass biosynthesis. On 30–42 days of cell cultures, biomass accumulation as compared to control was found maximum on media with variable ratios of nanoparticles and NAA.
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