Ziziphus oenoplia Mill.: A systematic review on ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry and pharmacology of an important traditional medicinal plant

Background: Ziziphus oenoplia Mill. (Family- Rhamnaceae) an important shrub, often found throughout the hot regions of tropical Asia and northern Australia, is commonly well known as Jackal Jujube in English. It is a folk herbal medicine used as an abdominal pain killer and anti-diarrhoeal agent,. Objective: The review aims to provide up-to-date information on the vernacular information, botanical characterization, distribution, ethnopharmacological uses, pharmacological activities, and chemical constituents of Z. oenoplia for possible exploitation of treatment for various diseases and to suggest future investigations. Method: This review was performed by studying online resources relating to Z. oenoplia and diverse resources, including scientific journals, books, and worldwide accepted databases from which information was assembled to accumulate significant information and relevant data at one place. Results: Investigations on Z. oenoplia have been focused on its pharmacological activities, including its antimicrobial, antidiabetic, antihepatotoxic, antiulcer, antiplasmodial, anticancer, wound healing, anthelmintic, antioxidant, analgesic and antinociceptive, hypolipidemic activity, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antidiarrheal activities. Phytochemical studies resulted in the isolation of fatty acids, flavonoids, phenols, pentacyclic triterpenes, hydroxy carboxylic acids, aliphatic hydroxy ether, and cyclopeptide alkaloids. Conclusions: Most of the ethnopharmacological relevance of Z. oenoplia is justified but more need to be studied. Further investigations are necessary to fully understand the mode of action of the active constituents and to exploit its preventive and therapeutic potentials.

Chemical Interaction-Induced Evolution of Phase Compatibilization in Blends of Poly(hydroxy ether of bisphenol-A)/Poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate)

An immiscible blend of poly(hydroxy ether of bisphenol-A) (phenoxy) and poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate) (PBT) with phase separation was observed in as-blended samples. The compatibilization of phenoxy/PBT blends can be promoted through chemical exchange reactions of phenoxy with PBT upon annealing. The annealed phenoxy/PBT blends had a homogeneous phase with a single Tg that could be enhanced by annealing at 260 °C. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy demonstrated that phase homogenization could be promoted by annealing the phenoxy/PBT blend, where alcoholytic exchange occurred between the dangling hydroxyl group (–OH) in phenoxy and the carbonyl group (C=O) in PBT in the heated blends. The alcoholysis reaction changed the aromatic linkages to aliphatic linkages in the carbonyl groups, which initially led to the formation of a graft copolymer of phenoxy and PBT with an aliphatic/aliphatic carbonyl link. The progressive alcoholysis reaction resulted in the transformation of the initial homopolymers into block copolymers and finally into random copolymers, which promoted phase compatibilization in blends of phenoxy with PBT. As the amount of copolymers increased upon annealing, the crystallization of PBT was inhibited by alcoholytic exchange in the blends.

Chemical Interaction–Induced Evolution of Phase Compatibilization in Blends of Poly(hydroxy ether of bisphenol-A) with Poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate)

An immiscible blend of poly(hydroxy ether of bisphenol-A) (phenoxy) and poly(1,4-butylene terephthalate) (PBT) with phase separation was observed in as-blended samples. However, compatibilization of the phenoxy/PBT blends can be promoted through chemical exchange reactions of phenoxy with PBT upon annealing. In contrast to the as-blended samples, the annealed phenoxy/PBT blends had a homogeneous phase with a single Tg that could be enhanced by annealing at 260°C. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy demonstrated that phase homogenization could be promoted by annealing of the phenoxy/PBT blend, where alcoholytic exchange occurred between the dangling hydroxyl group in phenoxy and the carbonyl group in PBT in the heated blends. The alcoholysis reaction changes the aromatic linkages to aliphatic linkages in carbonyl groups, which initially led to the formation of a graft copolymer of phenoxy and PBT with an aliphatic/aliphatic carbonyl link. The progressive alcoholysis reaction resulted in the transformation of the initial homopolymers into block copolymers and finally into random copolymers, which promoted phase compatibilization in blends of phenoxy with PBT. Due to the fact that the amount of copolymers increased upon annealing, crystallization of PBT was inhibited by alcoholytic exchange in the blends.

Chemical Exchange Reactions in Blends of the Biodegradable Polyester with poly(hydroxy ether of bisphenol-A)

Compatibilization via transreactions in blends of poly (butylene succinate-co-butylene terephthalate) [P(BS-co-BT)] with poly (hydroxy ether of bisphenol-A) (phenoxy) were investigated. Analyses were based on characterization using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). They revealed that the P(BS-co-BT)/phenoxy blend had a phase morphology that could be homogenized only following annealing at high temperatures. As-blended P(BS-co-BT)/phenoxy (50/50 composition) exhibited immiscible phases with two distinct Tgs, but the initially phase separated blends finally merged to form a homogeneous phase with a single Tgupon heating and annealing for 60 min at 280 °C. Chemical exchange reactions upon heat-annealing were likely to have caused the phase homogenization in the P(BS-co-BT)/phenoxy blend. NMR was performed on blend samples before and after they were heated to 280 °C, but the similarity of bonds made obtaining straight results difficult. Results of this study demonstrate phase homogenization can be brought only upon heat-annealing in the P(BS-co-BT)/phenoxy blend.