Articles Related to Phytochemicals

Hyperglycaemia is a key symptom in diabetes mellitus associated with long term damages, dysfunction and eventually failure of organs, especially the eyes, kidneys, nerves, heart and blood vessels. This study is to evaluate the hypoglycaemic potential of orally administered aqueous and ethanol extracts of Zyziphus spina-christ fruit on alloxan induced hyperglycaemic Wistar rats. The plant was extracted using maceration using aqueous and 80% ethanol as extraction solvents. Qualitative phytochemical analysis was done. An in vitro assessment of both aqueous and ethanol extract to demonstrate hypoglycaemic activity via inhibition of alpha amylase enzyme and alpha glucosidase enzymes were done. Total of 45 albino rats were used in the study of both sexes divided in 9 groups. Group 1: normal control group, group 2: diabetic control group, group 3: positive control group (metformin 300mg/kg), group 4-6: (150mg/kg, 300mg/kg and 600mg/kg) aqueous extract and group 7-9: (150mg/kg, 300mg/kg and 600mg/kg) ethanol extract. Groups were compared using one way ANOVA for significant differences and Dunnet’s posthoc test was deployed were differences exit. Data were represented as mean ± SEM and p value <0.005 The aqueous and ethanol extract yielded 35.59%% and 46.68% respectively. Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, Saponins, Saponins glycosides, steroids, Phytosteroids, carbohydrate and volatile oil. An in vitro assessment of aqueous and ethanol extract demonstrated hypoglycaemic activity via inhibition of both alpha amylase enzyme and alpha glucosidase enzymes. The percentage inhibition of alpha amylase was presented as IC50 of 0.14, 0.19 and 0.58 for the acarbose, ethanol extract and aqueous extract respectively. Alpha glucosidase inhibition was represented by the IC50 of 0.7mg/ml, 0.9mg/ml and 0.7mg/ml for acarbose, ethanol extracts and aqueous extracts. The aqueous and ethanol extracts significantly decrease the blood glucose level. Elevation of cholesterol and LDL was seen in diabetic control group. The results from the studies showed that Ziziphus spina-Christi fruit aqueous and ethanol extracts has an anti-hyperglycaemic potential which is not a dose dependent both in Vitro and in Vivo. Ziziphus spina-Christi fruit aqueous and ethanol extract also causes a significant reduction in cholesterol level.

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In recent years it has been reported that many of the herbal plants contain antiviral agents which combat human disease that are caused by pathogenic viruses. The natural products which are obtained from plants as antiviral agents against viruses have gone through researches to check the efficacy and potentials of the herbal products in prevention of viral disorders.

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The Indian mulberry or Noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) is one of the emerging sources of natural antioxidants for herbal and pharmaceutical industry. The genus Morinda has more than 150 species in which M. citrifolia is identified as most important for health and economic point of view. Present study revealed significant (p < 0.05) diversity in 33 genotypes of M. citrifolia from Andaman and Nicobar Islands (India) for phyto-constituents. The promising genotypes viz. FRG-14, JGH-5, TRA-1, TRA-2 and HD-6 were identified for commercial uses. Correlation analysis in M. citrifolia germplasm showed strong correlation between carotenoids and ascorbic acid (r2 =0.973; p<0.05), tannin (r2 =0.598; p<0.05), flavonoids (r2 =0.691; p<0.05) and phenol (r2 =0.598; p<0.05). The genotypes showed wide range for antioxidant capacity which showed positive correlation with carotenoids (r2 =0.335; p<0.05), flavonoids (r2 =0.249; p<0.05) and Cu (r2 =0.953; p<0.05), Mn (r2 =0.953; p<0.05) and Mg (r2 =0.582; p<0.05). The diversity analysis is useful for designing breeding strategies for phyto-nutrient rich genotypes for better recovery in health products.

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The ecosystem imbalance imposed by conventional agriculture is characterized by the loss of biodiversity that leads to uneven biological-energy distribution or to the disequilibrium of photosynthesis and respiration. These changes contribute to the excessive greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere followed by global climate change.

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A major part of nutrition research consists of the investigation of how food components affect the biochemical and physiologicalprocesses within the body. The rationale is that this mechanistic research will lead to a fuller understanding of disease etiology thereby generating information of practical value for the treatment and prevention of disease.

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This study investigated comparative concentrations of individual amino acids, total amino acids (TAA), non-essential amino acids (NEA) and essential amino acids (EAA) in the blood after the administration of Rice Protein Isolate (RPI) compared to Whey Protein Isolate (WPI).

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Capsaicin, an active ingredient of Capsicum fruit, is currently undergoing “revival” in the clinical management of pain. However, the choice of its formulation is rather limited to the use of “old-fashioned” tinctures and recently the patches. In an attempt to improve the therapeutic outcome and develop its skin-friendly formulation, we prepared the vesicle-based drug delivery system with capsaicin.

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