The Influence of Zn and Cd Accumulation on the Growth and Development of Medicinal Plants in the Impact Zone of the Novocherkassk Power Station

Over the pastdecade, particular attention has been paid to studies of the chemical composition of medical plants to identify the possible negative consequences of using raw plant material polluted with heavy metals for the production of medical drugs. In our study, we analyzed the chemical composition of the medical plants growing in the impact area of the Novocherkassk power station. Specifically, the plants Artemisia austriaca, Poa pratensis and Elytrigia repenswere examined for the analysis.The content and distribution of Zn and Cd, which are most distributed in industrial emissions and belong to the first class of hazardous elements, were measured. The maximum permissible content (MPC) of Zn in the raw material of Artemisia austriaca and Elytrigia repens was found, as was the maximum content of Cd in all analyzed plants growing in the 5km area around thepower station. The plant Artemisia austriacawasfound to have Zn and Cd accumulation in itsabovegroundcomponents, while in Poa pratensis and Elytrigia repens, accumulation was in the roots. The morphobiometric parameters of the plants were mostly dependent on the soil properties, followed by the degree of technogenic load. The content of Zn and Cd in the medical drugs was higher than the MPC without visible features of heavy metal pollution and so these plants weredangerous for human health. Keywords: heavy metals, technogenic load, phytoreagents, morphometric parameters

Roles of Nutraceuticals and Functional Food in Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease

The chapter provides an overview of cardiovascular disease, a major cause of mortality worldwide. It relates economic and social impacts to the disease, especially in developing countries. One of the approaches to addressing this challenge is increasing awareness within society, through implementation of education programs. It is important for society to understand the types and roles of the risk factors leading to cardiovascular disease. Emphasis is on the role of functional food and nutraceuticals as dietary sources that could prevent development of cardiovascular disease. The chapter highlights roles of nutraceuticals and functional food sources from medical plants, seeds, berries, and tropical fruits in lowering risk factors. Key findings from trials conducted in Asia, China, Europe, and America provide supporting evidence for the importance of functional food to health, and its potential for modifying the level of risk factors related to cardiovascular diseases.

Comparative evaluation of different extraction methods of medical plants

The development of extraction techniques of medical plants aims to maximize the bioactive compounds production. Тechnologies in this area of industry have not high enough еfficiency factor. In some cases, it reaches only 40-50 %. Therefore, development of new methods to effectively extract different compounds from plant material and their input into large-scale industry is of great importance. The goal is to determine an effective and suitable technology for extracting bioactive compounds from medical plant. This is a narrative review paper which focuses on different extraction methods of medical plant. To find relevant articles for this narrative review, 73 articles were reviewed. Of these, 14 irrelevant documents were discarded. This review analyses various extraction processes to guide the selection of suitable methods for various types of medical plants and applications. This is done by outlining traditional and modern methods of extraction techniques, exploring the importance of solvents for extraction, and comparing novel and alternative methods of extraction. In conclusion, based on the current knowledge, solvent extraction is the most common method for medical plants extraction. Enzymatic hydrolysis and supercritical extraction are advanced techniques with high yield of compounds. However, more research is needed for some modern extraction methods

Determination and heavy metals some Nigerian medical plants

No Abstract.

Article Review: Cordia myxa L.: The Gift of the Nature, A Review

Cordia myxa L. is one of the medical plants that plays an important role in the treatment of many diseases. There are many studies explained that C. myxa can show anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antiparasitic, antimicrobial and immunomodulatory properties. This review was focused on the active compounds and medical effects of C. myxa. The fatty acids contents are particularly high (9.9%). Sodium and potassium constitute the largest mineral proportion (13 ppm and 29 ppm respectively) of the fruit. However, the toxic heavy metals such as lead, cadmium, chromium and copper have not been found in the fruit. This gives an additional significant benefit of the medical uses of the plant. The content of alkaloids, saponin, polyphenols, and comarine were recorded and was relatively high compared to steroids, resins, glycosides, tannins, and gum that found to be in less amounts. When the mucilage was extracted, the alkaloids constitute more than 35%. By using the Folin‐Ciocalteu, C. myxa extracts have a high Phenolic content. The antibacterial activity against gram-negative bacteria were included in the fruit mucilage extract while the alcoholic extracts have no effect on all bacterial isolates. In addition, the mucilage extract showed anti-parasitic activity when it was tested against Leishmania infantum promastigotes. However, the highest concentration of extract significantly reduced the amounts of lymphocytes. Moreover, ethanolic extracts of C. myxa fruits give rise to leucocyte and lymphocyte count. Future research needs to be done on this kind of herbs which could show high medicinal activity.

Morphological and biological features of species of the genus Echinacea Moench during introduction to the Southern coast of the Crimea

The paper presents the results of an introduction study of four species of the genus Echinacea Moench from the collection of aromatic and medical plants of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden: E. angustifolia DС. , E. pallida (Nutt.) Nutt. , E. tennesseensis (Breadle) Small and E. purpurea (L.) Moench. Morphological and biological features of these species were identified in order to determine the prospects of their cultivation in the conditions of the Southern Coast of the Crimea. A positive interspecific dependence of the number of inflorescences (baskets) on a plant with the length of the growing season (r=0.92) was established. An intraspecific assessment of the morphometry of inflorescences, such as their diameter, the length of the lingual flowers and the height of the flower bed, showed that E. purpurea has a tendency to negatively correlate these indicators with their number on the plant. Among the studied species of the genus Echinacea, according to the complex of thirteen morpho-biological and economically valuable traits, two species differ in adaptive advantage - these are E. purpurea and E. tennesseensis , and the best samples are No. 15309 and No. 6106 with an aboveground mass yield, respectively, 1.20±0.21 kg/plant and 0.92±0.19 kg/plant. E. pallida is characterized by cumulative signs of drought resistance, it is a short growing season equal to 124±4.1 days and a narrow-lanceolate leaf blade shape (index - 9.6), which allows this species to form a significant yield of aboveground mass (0.86±0.17 kg/plant) in the arid conditions of the subtropical climate of the Southern coast of the Crimea.

In Vitro Liver Metabolism of Six Flavonoid C-Glycosides

Several medical plants belonging to the genera Passiflora, Viola, and Crataegus accumulate flavonoid C-glycosides, which likely contribute to their efficacy. Information regarding their phase I and II metabolism in the liver are lacking. Thus, in vitro liver metabolism of orientin, isoorientin, schaftoside, isoschaftoside, vitexin, and isovitexin, all of which accumulated in Passiflora incarnata L., was investigated by incubation in subcellular systems with human liver microsomes and human liver S9 fraction. All metabolite profiles were comprehensively characterized using HPLC-DAD and UHPLC–MS/MS analysis. Mono-glycosylic flavones of the luteolin-type orientin and isoorientin showed a broad range of mono-glucuronidated and mono-sulfated metabolites, whereas for mono-glycosylic flavones of the apigenin-type vitexin and isovitexin, only mono-glucuronidates could be detected. For di-glycosylic flavones of the apigenin-type schaftosid and isoschaftosid, no phase I or II metabolites were identified. The main metabolite of isoorientin was isolated using solid-phase extraction and prep. HPLC-DAD and identified as isoorientin-3′-O-α-glucuronide by NMR analysis. A second isolated glucuronide was assigned as isoorientin 4′-O-α-glucuronide. These findings indicate that vitexin and isovitexin are metabolized preferentially by uridine 5′-diphospho glucuronosyltransferases (UGTs) in the liver. As only orientin and isoorientin showed mono-sulfated and mono-glucuronidated metabolites, the dihydroxy group in 3′,4′-position may be essential for additional sulfation by sulfotransferases (SULTs) in the liver. The diglycosylic flavones schaftoside and isoschaftoside are likely not accepted as substrates of the used liver enzymes under the chosen conditions.

Polyphenols content of selected medical plants and food supplements present at Bulgarian market

Background: Medicinal plants are a rich source of antioxidant polyphenols and in particular flavonoids. Materials and methods: In the present study 5 Bulgarian medical plants and 5 food supplements, present at the Bulgarian market, are analyzed for their Total phenolic, Total flavonoids and selected individual flavonoids content. A HPLC method was developed and validated for simultaneous determination of (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin and rutin in plant and supplements, using PDA detection. Results: The results show that polyphenols in the selected food supplements are lower than those of the medical plants analyzed. Mentha piperita and Melissa officinalis have the highest polyphenols content (67.38 and 65.17 mg GAE/g; 54.59 and 57.76 mg RE/g respectively). Rutin was detected in all samples analyzed, reaching highest levels in Mentha piperita (7332.5 µg/g), followed by fruits of Sambucus nigra (2818.7 µg/g). Conclusion: The results of the study are a practical contribution to a more complete characterization of the polyphenolic composition in Bulgarian medicinal plants.

A Comprehensive review on Dichrostachys cinerea

For a very long time, the medical plants have been used worldwide to treat human diseases and it serves as a safe source of drugs to cure several diseases and conditions through complementary medicine system. It is a native plant of Indian subcontinent, Africa and North Australia and is known to have significant pharmacological activities. The wide range of pharmacological activities of D.cinerea are due to the presence of different groups of active biological compounds present in it. Traditionally, D.cinerea has been used for the treatment the treatment of many diseases such as headache, toothache, dysentery, leprosy, coughs, syphilis and also as diuretic, anthelmintic, purgative and laxative. Research on the pharmacological, biological isolation of metabolites and biologically active compounds of this plant have already been done worldwide. However, the study to evaluate the complete therapeutic values of this plant still needed to conduct. This paper briefly reviews the various pharmacological properties of D.cinerea that could be useful for further experimental and clinical investigations.