Medicinal herbs have a long history in improving human health and curing various diseases. A wide interest has been made for researchers using herbal material in identification of the active components and verification of their efficiency. We evaluated the aqueous and methanol extracts of T. terrestris for the phytochemical content and its antimicrobial activity. Phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids flavonoids, saponins, anthraquinone, terpenoids, tannins, reducing sugar, and Cardiac Glycosides, etc. Disc diffusion method determined antibacterial effect of T. terrestris extracts. Methanolic extract have shown better inhibition than aqueous, again all the tested pathogens. Our results indicate that T. terrestris has potential therapeutic phytochemicals, which can be used as an alternative medicine for human health.

Scaevola spinescens (Goodeniaceae) has been traditionally used by indigenous Australians to treat various ailments including cancer, thus it is necessary to identify optimum extraction conditions for bioactive components from this plant. This study investigated the effects of different extraction conditions on Total Phenolic Content (TPC), antioxidant capacity (ABTS, DPPH, CUPRAC, FRAP assays) and anti-cancer activity (MTT assay) of S. spinescens. The results showed that optimal extraction conditions for TPC using water were 80°C, 15 min and ratio of 20:1 mL/g. However, the aqueous extract prepared under optimal conditions had lower TPC and less antioxidant capacity than those of the organic solvent extracts. The acetone extract displayed the greatest TPC as well as the highest antioxidant capacity and anti-cancer activity against a panel of cancer cell lines, including cancers of the pancreas, breast, lung, brain, skin, colon and ovary. Therefore, further investigations should be conducted to identify key bioactive compounds as potential anti-cancer agents.

50% Ethanolic extract of Saraca asoca Roxb. de Wilde flowers (SAE) was screened for its antihyperglycemic and antioxidant effect in streptozotocin-nicotinamide induced diabetic rats. Phytochemical analysis of SAE revealed the presence of phenolic compounds phytosterol, flavonoids and saponins. After the administration of extract 200 mg/kg body weight/day) in diabetic rats has improved the elevated levels of blood glucose (p<0.01). The decreased activities of key antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase and glutathione in diabetic rats were brought back to near normal range upon SAE treatment. Our studies demonstrate the anti-hyperglycemic and anti-oxidative potential of Saraca asoca which could exert sympathetic effects against the diabetes and associated free radicals complications.

Mangroves being stress tolerant plants possess unique metabolites with significant amount of bioactive compounds which could be isolated and evaluated for possible drug development with suitable biotechnology tools. The mangrove genus Xylocarpus comprises of four species viz. Xylocarpus granatum (Koenig), X. moluccensis (lamk.) and X. mekongensis Pierre and X. rumphii. However, X. rumphii is a less abundant mangrove plant. There have been reports that different species of Xylocarpus are used ethnomedicinallly for treatment of various diseases such as fever, malaria, cholera, diarrhoea, swelling of breast, elephantiasis, inflammation, dyslipidemia, pain, hyperglycaemia etc. Recent studies revealed that the extracts from different parts of the plant such as leaves, stem, bark and fruits possess phytoconstituents like alkaloids, glycosides, steroids, limnoids, terpenoids, flavonoids, tannins and other phenolics. Further, it has been established that the different solvent extracts of the plants have exhibited antimicrobial and antidiarrhoeal activities against a number of human pathogens which could be correlated to their phytoconstituents such as flavonoids, alkaloids, limnoids, tannins etc. The present study is aimed at compiling information on phytochemical, pharmacological and ethnomedicinal properties of mangrove plants of genus Xylocarpus, with a view to critically assess the legitimacy of the use of these plants for antimicrobial and antidiarrhoeal activities as well as providing directions for further research.

A diet rich in fruits and vegetables has been identified to confer multiple health benefits, including the reduction of cardiovascular disease risk. Fruits like apple, grape berry, olive, tomato, and mango all contain triterpenoid compounds with cardio-protective and antioxidant activities that can significantly attenuate or delay cardiovascular disease onset. Various clinical trials have been conducted on humans assessing the potential role of triterpenoid usage in the prevention of such chronic disorders, and the possible mechanisms responsible for the observed therapeutic actions. This paper is a review of primary research articles investigating the biologically active triterpenoids and their cardioprotective and anti-inflammatory effects.

Olive oil, a major feature of the Mediterranean diet, is an important source of phenolic compounds. Poliphenols are associated with inhibition of several pathological processes, including cancer. Soluble phenols are contained in the aqueous part of olive and are discarded during oil production in the ‘olive mill wastewaters’. Here we investigated the properties of a purified extract of olive mill wastewaters, named A009, as potential anti-angiogenic compound. While the strong anti-oxidant activity of olive derived phenolic compounds has been well characterized, little is known about their anti-angiogenic properties. We investigated effects of A009 on endothelial cell morphogenesis, proliferation, migration and apoptosis, comparing the results obtained with the activity of a well-characterized olive oil phenol, Hydroxytyrosol (HT). Further, we tested the effects of A009 and HT in an in vivo angiogenesis assay. We found that A009 exerted strong anti-angiogenic effects both in vitro and in vivo, and that the complex natural purified extract has stronger anti-angiogenic potential when compared to the same concentrations of HT in most of the assays performed. These data demonstrate that a novel purified, phenols enriched, extract with anti-angiogenic, and angiopreventive potential can be obtained from olive oil mill waste material, recovering useful products from an agricultural waste.

In this study the ethanol extract, n-hexane extract and chloroform extract of Azadirachta indica were first evaluated for phytochemical study. The phytochemical screening of the three extracts of Azadirachta indica exhibited the presence of important secondary metabolites such as flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids and tannins. The extracts showed potential antimicrobial activities against thirteen different strains of microorganisms. Secondly, they were screened in vitro for cytotoxicity test by brine shrimp lethality bioassay and results illustrated significant (p<0.05) cytotoxicity against Artemia salina. To test the analgesic properties of ethanol extract of Azadirachta indica, hot plate and acetic acid induced writhing methods were used. At two different doses (250 and 500 mg/kg body weight), the analgesic tests were performed on Swiss Albino mice. Also, the anti-inflammatory tests were performed by carrageenan induced paw edema method on long Evans rats at the two different doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight using ethanol extract. Our results indicated that Azadirachta indica possesses remarkable analgesic and anti-inflammatory activity.