Comparative study among Avicennia marina, Phragmites australis, and Moringa oleifera based ethanolic-extracts for their antimicrobial, antioxidant, and cytotoxic activities

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of hydro-alcoholic extract of Dicliptera cuneata Nees aerial parts

Dicliptera cuneata Nees is a traditional medicinal plant but its extract or phytochemicals are less known. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects of aerial part hydroalcoholic extract of Dicliptera cuneata Nees. Hence, we used protein denaturation assay, FRAP assay, Nitric oxide and peroxide scavenging assays methods following standard developed techniques. The hydro-alcoholic extract exhibited dose-dependent effectiveness in all the assays and showed maximum efficacy in the assays at higher doses selected. Data shows that hydroalcholic extract of Dicliptera cuneata Nees showed anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties in in vitro settings. It should be noted that more data is needed to further develop the extract into suitable formulations.

Medicinal plants and foods with metaphorical concepts in Rumi's "Masnavi Manavi": The psychosomatic approach to human health

Objective

"Masnavi Manavi" is one of the most valuable texts of Persian literature. In this book, Rumi (Mevlana) with a unique method and in the form of moral stories teaches life lessons, mystical truths and even therapeutic advices to people. The aim of this study is to highlight the medicinal plants and foods that had been applied both in somatic and spiritual concept in "Masnavi Manavi' poems.

Materials and Methods

For this purpose, a library-based, descriptive and analytical method was used.

Results

Some medicinal plants and food terms such as rose-water, vinegar, honey, oxymel, common reed, grape, onion, garlic and wheat are mentioned in this study to show Rumi's metaphorical and therapeutic approach as a doctor who treats both soul and body. In fact, Rumi's intention to apply these terms was to express his ideas and views about the inseparability of physical and spiritual aspects in human health and well-being.

Conclusion

Rumi focus in "Masnavi Manavi" moral stories is the soul health and consider body as carrier of the soul. Therefore, because of this psychosomatic approach to human disease, he selects the most suitable herbs and foods for explaining spiritual and somatic medicine.

Antimicrobial and Antioxidant Property of a True Mangrove Rhizophora apiculata Bl

Mangroves are abundant in bioactive natural substances that fight off pathogenic diseases. Different parts of R. apiculata, an abundant mangrove found in Bhitarkanika National Park, India were extracted with methanol and a mixture of solvents methanol/ethanol/chloroform (60 : 20 : 20) to evaluate their antimicrobial properties. The combination solvent extract of bark had the highest zone of inhibition (ZOI) of 18.62 mm against Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a ZOI of 17.41 mm against Streptococcus mitis. Bark extracts had the highest DPPH (43 %) and FRAP (96 %) activities. The combination solvent bark extract of R. apiculata had the highest ZOI of 20.42 mm (lowest MIC of 2.12 μg/ml) against Candida albicans and ZOI of 15.33 mm (MIC of 3.02 μg/mL) against Penicillium chrysogenum. Combination bark extracts of R. apiculata contained flavanols than methanolic extracts. The crude extract of R. apiculata bark made with a mixture of solvents containing more active ingredients could be used in novel drug formulation.

Antioxidant status in the blood, liver, and muscle tissue of turkey hens receiving a diet with alfalfa protein concentrate

This study aimed to investigate the impact of the oxidative potential of turkeys fed a diet with alfalfa protein concentrate (APC), used throughout the rearing period or periodically at 2-wk intervals. The research material consisted of 6-wk-old BIG 6 turkey hens kept in pens, 5 birds per pen in 6 replicates. The experimental factor was the addition of APC to the diet in the amount of 15 or 30 g/kg of diet. APC was administered in 2 ways: birds received a diet with APC throughout the experiment or periodically. In the latter case, the birds received the diet with APC for 2 wk, and then for 2 wk they received the standard diet without APC. Levels of nutrients in the diet; flavonoids, polyphenols, tannins, and saponins in APC; uric acid, creatinine, bilirubin, and some antioxidants in the blood; and enzyme parameters in the blood and tissues of turkeys were determined. The use of APC in the diet stimulated antioxidant processes, which could be seen in the values of the pro-oxidant-antioxidant parameters of the tissues and blood plasma of turkeys. The significant reduction in the H₂O₂ level (P = 0.042) and slight reduction in the MDA level (P = 0.083), accompanied by an increase in catalase (P = 0.046) activity in the turkeys continuously receiving APC in the amount of 30 g/kg of diet, as well as the increase in plasma antioxidant parameters (vitamin C, P = 0.042 and FRAP, P = 0.048) in these birds, reflects improvement in their antioxidant status. Thus continuous use of the APC supplement in the amount of 30 g/kg of diet proved to be a better feeding practice to optimize oxidative potential than periodic inclusion of APC.

Natural Products from Mangroves: An Overview of the Anticancer Potential of Avicennia marina

Exploring the potential of natural extracts for pharmaceutical applications in the treatment of different diseases is an emerging field of medical research, owing to the tremendous advantages that they can offer. These include compound sustainability due to the natural origin and virtually unlimited availability. In addition, they contribute to promoting the countries in which they are extracted and manufactured. For this reason, wild active compounds derived from plants are attracting increasing interest due to their beneficial properties. Among them, Avicennia marina has been recently recognized as a potential source of natural substances with therapeutic activities for anti-cancer treatment. A. marina beneficially supplies different chemical compounds, including cyclic triterpenoids, flavonoids, iridoids, naphtaquinones, polyphenols, polysaccharides, and steroids, most of them exhibiting potent antitumor activity. The in vivo and in vitro studies on different models of solid tumors demonstrated its dose-dependent activity. Moreover, the possibility to formulate the A. marina extracted molecules in nanoparticles allowed researchers to ameliorate the therapeutic outcome of treatments exploiting improved selectivity toward cancer cells, thus reducing the side effects due to nonspecific spread.

A Comprehensive Review of Moringa oleifera Bioactive Compounds-Cytotoxicity Evaluation and Their Encapsulation

Moringa oleifera Lam. has gained a lot of attention due to its potential use as a functional food not only for human health but also for animal health. Its bioactive molecules include carbohydrates, phenolic compounds, carotenoids, fatty acids, essential amino acids, and functional peptides. Despite significant efforts to isolate and characterize bioactive metabolites with health functions, few effective metabolites are accessible. The current review aims to describe the main processes for extracting and encapsulating bioactive compounds from Moringa oleifera for potential impact on food science and public health. Researchers have shown that different extraction techniques significantly impact the Moringa polysaccharides' molecular structure and biological activity. Encapsulation has been proposed to reduce oxidative stability and entrap active agents within a carrier material to deliver bioactive molecules into foods. Currently, polysaccharides and proteins, followed by lipids, are used for material encapsulation. Recent techniques include spray drying, cross-linking gelation, freeze-drying, nanoencapsulation, electrospinning, and electrospraying. Moreover, these encapsulations can overlap concerns regarding the Moringa oleifera compounds' cytotoxicity. Future studies should prioritize the effect of new encapsulation materials on Moringa extract and develop new techniques that consider both encapsulation cost and efficiency.

A Comparative Photographic Review on Higher Plants and Macro-Fungi: A Soil Restoration for Sustainable Production of Food and Energy

The Kingdom of Plantae is considered the main source of human food, and includes several edible and medicinal plants, whereas mushrooms belong to the Kingdom of fungi. There are a lot of similar characteristics between mushrooms and higher plants, but there are also many differences among them, especially from the human health point of view. The absences of both chlorophyll content and the ability to form their own food are the main differences between mushrooms and higher plants. The main similar attributes found in both mushrooms and higher plants are represented in their nutritional and medicinal activities. The findings of this review have a number of practical implications. A lot of applications in different fields could be found also for both mushrooms and higher plants, especially in the bioenergy, biorefinery, soil restoration, and pharmaceutical fields, but this study is the first report on a comparative photographic review between them. An implication of the most important findings in this review is that both mushrooms and plants should be taken into account when integrated food and energy are needed. These findings will be of broad use to the scientific and biomedical communities. Further investigation and experimentation into the integration and production of food crops and mushrooms are strongly recommended under different environmental conditions, particularly climate change.

In vitro antifungal and antibacterial potentials of organic extracts of Avicennia marina collected from Rabigh Lagoon, Red Sea Coasts in Saudi Arabia

Abstract Mangrove shrub Avicennia marina (Forsk.) Vierh was used to test the antifungal and antibacterial activities of aerial fractions in vitro. Aspergillus sp, Candida sp and Gram positive bacteria have all been found to be sensitive to mangrove extracts, whereas Gram negative bacteria have been found to be resistant to them. Agar disc diffusion and well-cut diffusion were employed to conduct antifungal and antibacterial activities. The MICs (minimum inhibitory concentrations) for each assay have been established. Several extracts from Mangrove reduced fungus growth (diameters fluctuated between 11 and 41 mm). The Ethyl acetate fraction showed particularly strong inhibition of C. tropicalis, C. albicanis, and A. fumigatus. They had 41, 40, and 25 mm-diameter inhibition zones, respectively. Nesoral, a synthetic antifungal medication, showed no significant changes in its MICs compared to different extracts. Enterococcus faecalis and Bacillus subtilis were inhibited by Petroleum Ether extracts at MICs of 0.78 and 0.35 mg/mL, respectively. It is possible that A. marina extracts may be exploited as a viable natural alternative that may be employed in the management of various infections, notably nosocomial bacterial infections, as anti-candidiasis and as anti-aspergillosis agents.