Journal of Medicinal Plants and By-products
Volume:12 Issue: 3, Summer 2023

There is an increasing interest to use nanoparticles (NPs) and growth regulators in mitigating deleterious effects of the drought stress. The present work was conducted to investigate the effect of the salicylic acid (SA) and silicon (Si)-NPs on physiological and biochemical attributes of coriander (Coriandrum sativum L.) plants expose to drought stress. A split-plot experiment was carried out with irrigation regimes (irrigation after 60, 90, and 120 mm evaporation from Class A pan) as main plot and foliar application of SA and Si-NPs as the subplots during 2019 and 2020. The results showed drought stress reduced chlorophyll (Chl) content, but enhanced total soluble sugar (TSS), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and peroxidase (POX) activities of coriander leaves. Increases in Chl content, TSS, and activity of antioxidant enzymes were observed when plants sprayed with SA and Si-NPs. Moderate drought stress (90 mm evaporation from Class A pan) along with Si-NPs significantly increased total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC), essential oil (EO) content, and EO yield.  Foliar application of Si-NPs was more effective than SA to improve the antioxidant potential and EO yield of coriander plants when exposed to drought stress.

Chymosin is an important milk clotting enzyme, massively used in the dairy industry. Due to the limited amount of natural chymosin, the recombinant enzyme produced in different organisms is the main source of chymosin. Plants have several advantages for large scale cost-effective production of recombinant chymosin. Here, we used a synthetic codon-optimized version of bovine prochymosin gene for ideal expression in the tobacco host. In this study, we utilized biolistic co-transformation method to introduce the synthetic bovine prochymosin gene into the tobacco genome. Several transgenic plants were regenerated on a selective medium. Molecular analysis confirmed successful integration and expression of prochymosin gene in several transgenic candidates. Total soluble protein extracts from transgenic plants were successfully applied for milk coagulation experiments, demonstrating the production of functional prochymosin in transgenic lines. In conclusion, here, we report successful expression of functional chymosin in tobacco plants from a novel synthetic version of the bovine prochymosin gene. Our experimental data support that plants could serve as a reliable source for safe and cost-effective production of recombinant chymosin enzyme for industrial usage.

Many natural phytobiotics of medicinal herbs possess antibiotic and radical scavenger properties for poultry species as nutritional additives. A bioassay study was conducted to evaluate the potential effects of Salvia mirzayanii Rech.f. & Esfand. (SM) on some physiological responses in broiler chickens including adaptive immune responses, blood parameters, and meat quality. A total of 200, one-day-old broiler chicks received five experimental diets containing 0.0, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, and 1.0% SM in diet for a 42 d assay. Consumption of 0.50% and 0.75% of SM, were able to produce higher antibodies against sheep red blood cells and the Newcastle disease virus (P ≤ 0.05). A substantial increase was observed in antibody titers against bronchitis virus in birds fed SM compared to those birds not receiving SM (P ≤ 0.05). Using 0.50% SM in the diet increased skin thickness after dinitrochlorobenzene challenge (P ≤ 0.05). The use of 0.50% SM in the diet increased the relative weight of the bursa of Fabricius (P ≤ 0.05). The blood concentration of triglyceride, cholesterol, total protein, and albumin was maximized using SM in diet, while blood glucose decreased by increasing dietary levels of SM (P ≤ 0.05). Meat malondialdehyde concentration has been minimized at 0.25%, 0.50% and 0.75% SM in diet (P ≤ 0.05). In conclusion, SM consumption did not have a positive effect on the growth performance of broilers, but the use of its proper level in the diet improved the humoral and cellular immune responses, as well as meat quality.

Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz is an annual flowering plant that belongs to the Brassicaceae family. C. sativa as a dicotyledonous plant, one of its characteristics is morphological formability to respond to large environmental changes. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of ethyl methylsulfonate on germination and morphological traits of C. saiva. Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS) is one of the most potent mutagenic and carcinogenic compounds that cause point-substitution-mutation in the genome. To induce mutations in this experiment, ethyl methanesulfonate with concentrations of 0.1% and 0.5% was used in two periods of 8 and 16 hours on 200 seeds of Camelina. The results of variance analysis for plant heights, number of leaves per sub-branch, number of seeds per pod, number of main branch leaves, stem diameter, and pod length did not show the significant difference, but the only significant difference was for the trait of pod width. Also, results showed that there was a significant difference between the tested treatments in terms of germination percentage, longest root length, mean root length, mean shoot length, seedling fresh weight, and seedling dry weight. According to the results of germination experiments, EMS treatment widely affected all six studied traits, therefore,  the amounts of the largest root length and shoot length decreased with increasing EMS concentration, but this relationship was not observed in other traits. Although EMS is classified as toxic, for germination percentage, it was observed that with increasing concentration and time of EMS treatment, germination percentage also increased. According to the correlation results, all traits had a positive and significant relationship with each other, which is probably due to the nature of the traits and their additive effect.

Pulicaria gnaphalodes (Vent.) Boiss. is a medicinal plant perennial and herbaceous belong to Asteraceae family which grows in some parts of Iran. In order to investigate the effect of two sowing dates (May 3 and 23) and nitrogen rates (0, 80, 160, and 240 kg N/ha) on morphological traits, yield and yield components and essential oil yield of P. gnaphalodes aerial parts, a factorial experiment based on a randomized complete block design with three replications was carried out in research field of Birjand branch, Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran in 2018. The results of analysis of variance showed that the simple and interaction effects of sowing date and nitrogen rate significantly affected plant height, number of main branch, number of capitols per plant, seed yield, dry weight and percentage of essential oil produced by the aerial parts at 1% level. In addition, the number of secondary branches, canopy diameter, number of seed per capitols and 1000-seed weight were affected by the nitrogen content at 1% level. The effect of sowing date on the number of main branches and canopy diameter was significant at the 1% level and on 1000-seed weight was significant at 5% level. Means comparison of simple effect of sowing date showed that plant height, number of main branches per plant, number of secondary branches per plant, canopy diameter, number of capitols per plant, 1000-seed weight, seed yield, and dry weight of the aerial parts had a significant superiority in the sowing date of May 3 compared to May 23, by 15.7, 19, 12.1, 10, 51.4, 15.8, 88.3 and 33.1%, respectively. Increasing the application of nitrogen to 240 kg N/ha also significantly increased the mentioned traits by 24, 41.2, 17.6, 29.3, 82.6, 115.3, 36.2, and 187.3%, respectively compared to 0 kg N/ ha (control). Means comparison of interaction effect between sowing date and nitrogen rate showed that the maximum plant height (68.50 cm), number of main branches per plant (17 branches per plant), number of capitols per plant (170), seed yield (322.87 kg/ha) and dry weight of the aerial parts (1808.52 kg/ha) were obtained in the treatment of the sowing date of May 3 with application of 240 kg N/ha.

Naringin and limonin are important antioxidant compounds in Citrus species. Due to the high biological effects of these compounds, in the present study, the variation of naringin and limonin content during fruit development was investigated at two fruit tissues of pulp and albedo in three Citrus genotypes (grapefruit, orange and mandarin). Also, the gene expression of involved enzymes in naringin and limonin metabolism was assayed. In all studied Citrus genotypes, the naringin content in albedo tissue was higher than the pulp and grapefruits showed the highest naringin content (940.26 mg per 100 g DW) followed by orange (791.17 mg per 100 g DW) and mandarin (602.10 mg per 100 g DW). The naringin content of studied genotypes was decreased during the fruit development and the highest decrement was observed at ripening stages. The decreasing of naringin content was attributed to the changes in genes expression of main involved enzymes in naringin biosynthesis pathways including chalcone-flavanone isomerase and naringenin glycoside biosynthesis (1.2 RhaT) during studied harvesting times. In both tissues of mandarin and orange fruits, the limonin content was increased up to 80 days after full bloom then decreased. In grapefruit, due to the late-ripening of the fruit, the peak of limonin increment was occurred later, which can be attributed to the long growth process of grapefruits compared to orange and mandarin. The reduction of limonin content with fruit ripening was in accordance with the increased gene expression of limonoid UDP-glucosyl transferase that converts limonin to tasteless compounds.

Herbal medicines are now in huge prospects in the developing and developed nation for basic health treatment. They are inexpensive and has minimal side effects. Cleome species are one of the potential sources of secondary metabolites which have high medicinal value and huge utility in healthcare development. In this study, in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of essential oils and ethanol extracts from various parts of two cleome species named Cleome brachycarpa (Forssk.) Vahl ex DC. and Cleome quinquenervia DC. were investigated. Antibacterial activities were determined using the MIC method against pathogenic bacteria and fungi responsible for common infections and antioxidant effects were determined by DPPH assays. Essential oils of both plants were performed better antimicrobial activities than their extracts. Also, in two tested plant oils and extracts, the antifungal properties showed better performance than antibacterial effects. In the DPPH radical scavenging assay, C. quinquenervia leaf and C. brachycarpa flower and oils showed the highest activities with IC50 values of 69 and 75 µg/ml, respectively. In the present study, the essential oils obtained by hydro distillation of the organs of C. quinquenervia and C. brachycarpa were analyzed by GC-MS. A total of 48 compounds were identified in C. quinquenervia essential oil and 19 compounds in C. brachycarpa essential oil. The dominant constituents assessed in the essential oil of C. quinquenervia were p-Caryophylline-(I3) (% 29), Dibutyl phthalate (% 13), β_Element (% 11). In the case of C. brachycarpa, the main components of the total oil were: were Ent-sandaracopimaradien-3β-ol (68.02%), Cembrene (6.98%), Juniper camphor (4.2%).

Satureja sp. belonging to the Lamiaceae family, has a wide variety and distribution in the world. In this research, essential oil content and components, phenol and antioxidant potential of five native Satureja species of Iran, including Satureja bachtiarica Bunge Bunge, S. sahendica Bornm., Satureja spicigera (K.Koch) Boiss., S. macrantha C.A.Mey. and S. mutica Fisch & C.A.Mey. were evaluated in the same conditions. The experiment was conducted based on randomized complete block design with three replications. The highest and the lowest essential oil content were obtained from S. mutica (2.05%) and S. sahendica (0.96%), respectively. Thymol was identified as the dominant component of essential oil in S. spicigera and S. macrantha, but in the other species, carvacrol was the dominant constituent in essential oil. In S. sahendica, monoterpene hydrocarbons, but in the other species, oxygenated monoterpenes were as the major constituents of the essential oil. Total phenols of the studied species were not significantly different, but the antioxidant potential of their extracts was significantly different. Cluster analysis based on phytochemical properties, divided the species to two groups: S. spicigera and S. macrantha in one group and the other species in a separate group. Results showed considerable phytochemical diversity among species and therefore the superior species will vary depending on the desired phytochemical properties.

Nowadays because of urban life, every vital resource has been polluted with heavy metals that are real prooxidants, Cactus fruit and Star fruit both have anti-oxidant activities and can protect animal tissues from oxidative stress. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the protective effect of Cactus Fruit and Star fruit extract on histological changes induced by cadmium in the lungs of Wistar rats. An experimental study was performed on 24 male Wistar rats over 16 days, Animals were randomly divided into four groups of six; negative control group, the positive control group that was poisoned at 2 mg/kg every 48 hours. Group 3 was the cadmium-poisoned group that was gavaged with cactus fruit extract at 200 mg/kg. Group 4 was the cadmium-poisoned group that was gavaged with star fruit extract at 200 mg/kg, administration of extracts was 90 minutes before the poisoning, After 16 days, the rats were euthanized by heart blood drainage under anesthesia. The main findings in the positive control group were the destruction of tissue architecture with the development of edema, hyperemia and congestion. Destruction of alveoli and air-space enlargement occurred. Vasculature structures were damaged and some degree of Inflammation and fibrosis happened, but the changes were much milder in the two other groups. Both fruits extract had high protective effects, each of them protected lung tissue against cadmium oxidative damage but cactus fruit extract seems to have more protection than star fruit extract.

Aloe vera (L.) Burm.f. is an important medicinal plant which belonging to the Liliaceae family. This plant has widely been applied in the pharmaceutical, food, and cosmetic industries. In this study, Aloin was extracted from A. vera leaves using ultrasonic and stirring methods. The extract was purified, and their Aloin A and B percentages were determined using HPLC. According to the results, in all samples, the amount of Aloin B was significantly higher than Aloin A. The ethyl acetate extract of dried latex obtained by ultrasonic method had the highest yield (24.50 %) and amount of total Aloin (84.22%) compared to other samples and methods. Also, the relative percentages of Aloin B and A were 86.48 and 13.52%, respectively. Finally, the antioxidant and cytotoxic properties of Aloin-containing extracts were investigated by DPPH and MTT methods, respectively. According to the results, the ethyl acetate extract of dried latex obtained by ultrasonic method exhibited the highest antioxidant and cytotoxic activities. There was a significant correlation between extracts containing more Aloin and higher biological activity, and extracts with more Aloin had higher biological properties. Therefore, the extract of the dried latex obtained by ultrasonic method was the best sample in terms of the amount of Aloin and biological properties. In conclusion, using the ultrasonic method together with a dried sample provides the most Aloin and biological properties.

This study was conducted to evaluate the antibacterial potential of Euphorbia tirucalli L. and Vernonia glabra (Steetz) Vatke and their safety level.  The plants were obtained from Kiwere ward in the Iringa district, prepared and extracted in aqueous and ethanol solvents. The E. tirucalli and V. glabra plant extracts were studied for their antimicrobial activities against E. coli isolates and E. coli ATCC 25922 using the agar well diffusion method. Minimum inhibitory and bactericidal concentrations (MIC and MBC) were determined. Among the tested plant extracts, the ethanol extracts of V. glabra showed the highest activity against E. coli isolates and E. coli 25922 with a mean inhibition zone of 17.909±0.3297 and 22.5 ± 0.500 respectively. Furthermore, on MIC and MBC, the ethanol extracts of V. glabra had a better activity with the values ranging from 1.25-2.5 mg/ml and 2.5-5 mg/ml respectively compared to other plant extracts. Phytochemical screening revealed the extract’s presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, triterpenes and steroids. The brine shrimp lethality test showed that the aqueous extract of E. tirucalli was non-toxic with LC50 of 1007 µg/mL, while ethanol extract of E. tirucalli, aqueous extract of V. glabra and ethanol extract of V. glabra were less toxic with LC50 values of 589, 507 and 658 µg/mL respectively.  These results indicate that the plant extracts have bioactive constituents that could be accounted for their pharmacological properties. Furthermore, these results proved the claim of indigenous people in the study area on the effectiveness and safety of the plants and supported the use of these plant species in traditional medicine.

Medicinal plants have been used for the maintenance of animal health in most parts of the world. However, ethnoveterinary knowledge is verbally passed on from generation to generation and can easily be lost or distorted if not documented for future reference. This study therefore seeks to ascertain the mostly used medicinal plants for ethnoveterinary practices in the research area. An ethnobotanical survey was carried out with 69 respondents consisting of subsistence livestock farmers, traditional healers and other traditional knowledge holders from four (4) towns in the study region. Interviews were conducted using semi-structured questionnaires designed to collect data on the plants used, their common names, methods of preparation and administration and livestock ailments treated. The relative frequency of citation (RFC) index was calculated in order to determine the most predominantly used plant species. Fifty-one (51) plant species were mentioned by respondents. Rhamnus prinoides L'Hér., Aloe striatula var. striatula, Monsonia burkeana Planch. ex Harv. and Leucosidea sericea Eckl. & Zeyh. were the frequently mentioned plants mostly from the Asteraceae family. Roots (45%) and leaves (43%) were the most frequently used plant parts. Approximately 84% of Medicines were prepared in the form of decoctions and administered orally. Thirteen (13) health conditions of livestock were treated with medicinal plants and bile acid malabsorption was the most predominant (39%). The study region is endowed with a rich biodiversity of medicinal plant species which are used for the treatment of various animal diseases. Therefore, it is imperative to establish the salient medicinal plant species used in this area for possible drug development.