Journal of Medicinal Plants and By-products
Volume:13 Issue: 2, Spring 2024

In the realm of agriculture and natural resources, medicinal plants stand out as a valuable resource. In recent years, faced with challenges such as predicting climate changes, soil classification, land use, and identifying patterns, there is a growing need for optimal techniques with higher efficiency, particularly in the cultivation of medicinal plants. Therefore, this article introduces the application of data mining to analyze available data in the agriculture and natural resources areas, focusing specifically on the medicinal plant industry. The primary objective is to explore data mining techniques that can enhance various aspects of medicinal plant cultivation, addressing challenges related to climate predictions, soil classification, and optimizing production. The article concludes by presenting the most effective data analysis methods in this domain, accompanied by their corresponding algorithms. Additionally, the aforementioned research is a guide for those intending to investigate the applications of data mining methods are highlighted for increased productivity, encompassing areas such as predicting crop yield, forecasting weather conditions, rainfall patterns, seed and plant conditions, soil quality, and medicinal plant production. The summarization and analysis of the outcome indicated that implementing AI could improve the design and process engineering strategies in bioprocessing fields.

Chronic and acute liver diseases are considered a global issue and their medical treatments are commonly challenging to manage. Traditional medicines have used natural products for thousands of years to prevent and treat various diseases. Recent studies have revealed that the pharmacological impacts of herbs are primarily determined by their phytochemical constituents. Therefore, understanding plant chemistry is crucial for the therapeutic use of medicinal plants. In this review, we first introduced some medicinal plants that have the potential to be beneficial for treating liver diseases and disorders, based on Traditional Persian Medicine (TPM) textbooks. Subsequently, we investigated the secondary metabolites of these medicinal plants by analyzing pharmacological research collected from electronic databases. We also discussed their scientific and family names. According to TPM textbooks, 77 medical plants have been identified for the treatment of liver defects, belonging to 43 different families. Their secondary metabolites were studied through data obtained from electronic databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, and Web of Science. These findings suggest that natural plant extracts hold promise for the prevention and treatment of liver diseases.

To investigate water deficit stress on yield and essential oil components in Rosa damascena Herrm., an experiment was conducted in a completely randomized block design with three replications in Karaj/ Iran. The treatments included 90 mm (severe stress) and 45 mm (mild stress) of cumulative evaporation from the surface of the class A evaporation pan that was compared to the control treatment (no stress). Combined analysis performed in the years. The studied properties included flower yield, essential oil percent, essential oil yield, and some essential oil components in the R. damascena. The essential oil of fresh flowers was extracted using the water distillation method by the Clevenger apparatus. The essential oil components were identified using GC and GC/MS. The results showed that the effect of year and water deficit stress was significant on flower yield, essential oil yield, and some components in the essential oil. Maximum flower yield was obtained in the second year without stress conditions (1208 g/plant), significantly different from the others. In the essential oil, citronellol, and geraniol increased due to water deficit stress and included 24.48 and 2.89%, respectively. Applying water deficit stress reduced the amount of nonadecane, eicosane, and heneicosan. By applying different levels of water deficit stresses can be modified and manage the components in the essential oil of the R. damascena.

Lythrum salicaria L., commonly referred to as Purple Loosestrife, is a medicinal plant that has been valued for its therapeutic properties for centuries. The aim of this study is to determine the effect of using activated charcoal on establishing the in vitro propagation of L. Salicaria L. In this study, shoot explants (1.5 cm) were excised from buds that were 30 days old with a sterile scalpel blade and then cultured on full‐strength MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of activated charcoal to multiply and increase the length of shoots. Additionally, to investigate the in vitro rooting response, shoot tip explants were cut from elongated shoots and cultured on an MS medium containing different concentrations of NAA with or without activated charcoal with three replicates in each experiment. MS medium with 0.5 g/L activated charcoal had the highest mean shoot length (7.1 cm ± 0.15) and mean number of shoots per explant (2.4±0.11). The results show that 0.5 mg/L NAA and 0.2 g/L activated charcoal provide the best response for rooting. The improved protocol can be utilized to grow roots in micro shoots of L. salicaria, which is an important stage in the micro propagation of L. salicaria.

Fruit and seed of date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) have primary and special metabolites which result in therapeutic effects in preventing chronic diseases such as diabetes, blood pressure, liver diseases and cancer. Date seeds have fatty acids and can be used in food, cosmetic health and pharmaceutical industries. Considering the effect of the cultivar on the type and contents of biochemical compounds, seeds of 7 date cultivars (‘Ashrasi’, ‘Barhi’, ‘Bream’, ‘Khastawi’, ‘Khyara’, ‘Mekawi’ and ‘Zahdi’) originated from Iraq, were investigated in terms of the amount and type of fatty acids and mineral nutrients. The seed percentage was different from 4% in ‘Barhi’ to 6.3% in ‘Khyara’. The type and amount of saturated and unsaturated fatty acids were affected by the cultivar. The highest amount of saturated fatty acids, capric acid (0.34%) and lauric acid (26.06%), was observed in ‘Mekawi’ and the highest caprylic acid (0.35%) content was observed in ‘Barhi’. The highest content of myristic acid (12.60%) and margaric acid (0.28%) was observed in ‘Khastawi’ and the highest content of palmitic acid (11.99%) and stearic acid (3.76%) was observed in ‘Zahdi’. The type of cultivar had no effect on the oleic acid content, while the content of linoleic acid in ‘Khastawi’ was significantly higher than ‘Zahdi’. The content of mineral elements was also affected by the type of cultivar. The highest phosphorus content is in ‘Khyara’ (0.35%) and ‘Bream’ (0.32%), the highest amount of potassium is in ‘Mekawi’ (0.44%) and ‘Khastawi’ (0.43), the highest calcium content was observed in ‘Khastawi’ (403 mg/kg) and the highest content of iron was observed in ‘Ashrasi’ (21.4 mg/kg) cultivar.

Oral anaerobic bacteria cause a wide range of oral diseases. Research results have proven that there is a strong connection between periodontal bacteria and oral anaerobic bacteria with some serious human cancers, oral cavity infections, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and even heart disease. Prunus scopariais one of the wild medicinal plants of Iran, which is widely distributed in Lorestan province. Local people of Lorestan use it in traditional medicine to treat diabetes, inflammatory diseases and microbial infections. In this study, the methanolic extract of P. scoparia was tested on several anaerobic bacteria. The results showed that the methanol extract of the P. scoparia can inhibit the growth of Porphyromonas gingivalis, Streptococcus mutans and bacteria at a dilution of 40 mg/ml and the growth of Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria at a dilution of 25 mg/ml. The minimum inhibition concentration of vancomycin for P. gingivalis and Streptococcus mutans is 0.002 mg/ml and for L. acidophilus is 0.008 mg/ml. MIC values of metronidazole for Streptococcus mutans, L. acidophilus and P. gingivalis are 0.008, 0.032 and 0.064 mg/ml, respectively. So, the results demonstrated that the methanolic extract of this plant can be used in the treatment of many diseases related to anaerobic bacteria.

Artemisia L., the largest genus from the Anthemideae tribe and Asteraceae family, comprises almost 500 species, which is one so important in traditional Persian medicine. Of these species, A. absinthium and A. aucheri have numerous uses in various fields such as pharmaceutical, agricultural, cosmetics, sanitary, perfumes, and food industries. Due to their characteristic features in terms of chemical composition and usefulness, this paper aims to present the results of the chemical composition of essential oils extracted by the hydrodistillation from A. absinthium and A. aucheri. The plant material was collected from different geographical areas of Iran. The qualitative and quantitative essential oil analysis was performed by the GC/MS. The percentages show the presence of chemical compounds represented in the majority by camphor, sabinen, linalool, hydroxy dihydro- lavandulyl acetate, and Geraniol. Hydrocarbon and oxygen monoterpenes, especially ketones, were the essential chemical groups in the Artemisia essential oil from different parts of Iran.

Today, the production and use of materials with nanometer diversity is increasing day by day due to the unique and fascinating features of these materials. Until now, various physical and chemical methods have been used for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), but the use of plants for the synthesis of AgNPs is very fast, simple, non-toxic, and environmentally friendly. In this research, the aqueous extract (AE) of Capparis plants was used for the biosynthesis of AgNPs. The color of the silver nitrate solution changed to reddish color after adding the extract. The Antimicrobial activity of AgNPs against Streptococcus pyogenes, Streptococcus pneumoniae, S. saprophyticus, Hafnia alvei,  Acinetobacter. baumannii, Enterococcus faecalis, Proteus mirabilis, Serratia marcescens, Staphylococcus aureus bacteria were investigated by minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) using microdilution method. The amount of total phenol and flavonoids in the methanolic extract (ME) of capparis leaves was equal to 229.9- 28.09 mg per gram of dry matter. The antioxidant properties of the ME of capparis were 85.18%. The greatest effect of the ME of the medicinal plant capparis was 0.2315 on the inactivity of E. coli and the greatest effect of green AgNPs synthesized from the AE of the medicinal plant Capparis with ELISA of 0.3740 was on the inactivity of S. mutanis. The maximum diameter of the inhibitor zone (MDIZ) was 5.5 mm due to the inactivity of H. alvi bacteria. The results of this research showed that the leaf extract of the Capparis spinosa f. inermis Knocheplant is capable of synthesizing AgNPs and the synthetic nanoparticles showed good antimicrobial activity against pathogenic strains in vitro.

Iran has different environmental conditions due to specific geographical. Therefore, exploring essential oil and flavonoids components among different medicinal may be caused discoveries about valuable components. The present study aimed to study flavonoids profile and essential oils composition of four Lamiaceae species i.e. Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl, Teucrium polium L., Thymus daenensis Čelak., and Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam. from Oshtorankoh located on Zagros Mountains, Iran. The plants were collected during 2014-2015 and were identified using available references. A chemical study using two-dimensional paper chromatography (2-DPC) and thin-layer chromatography (TLC) showed that the four studied species contained flavone C and C-/O glucosides and flavonoid sulfates. The result of the present study revealed that T. polium had high levels of many flavonoids such as apigenin, genistein, isorhamnetin, kaempferol, quercetin, rutin, andvitexin compared to the other studied plants. According to the results of GC/MS analysis, S. lavandulifolia was rich in α‑pinene (21.16%) and 1,8‑cineol (16.95%), T. polium in α‑pinene (12.21%) and sabinene (9.55%), T. daenensis in γ‑Terpinene (36.98%) and p‑Cymene (26.87%), and Z.‍clinopodioides in piperitone (16.84%) and 1,8‑cineol (16.11%) components.

Dill (Anethum graveolens L.) is a popular herb of the Apiaceae family, widely used in medicine and food industry. The aim of this study is to measure the effects of polyamines on the percent and the compounds of the dill essential oil. This study was conducted in three replications in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). The treatment compounds were made up of polyamines (spermine, spermidine, and putrescine) at 50, 100 and 150 mg/l concentrations, respectively. The foliar application of polyamines was performed in three replications in the beginning of the flowering stage. It was repeated 14 days apart. Our results demonstrated that the maximum values of dill essential oil (3.58%) were obtained by application of 100 mg/l of putrescine. The dill essential oil compounds include: α-phellandrene (4.03%) was obtained by application of 50 mg/l of putrescine treatment, and the maximum values of limonene (41.63%) were obtained by application of 50 mg/l spermidine treatment. but, the highest values of carvone and trans- dihydrocarone (61.96%) and (5.76%) were observed in the control treatment. The dill essential oil compounds are generally affected by the cultivar, plant type, harvest time, geographical factors, and type of fertilizers. It is also vital to mention that among polyamines, spermidine and putrescine (50 mg/l) at the lowest concentration had the highest influence on the value of the main compounds of dill essential oil.

The medicinal-oil plant Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz belongs to the Brassicaceae family. Various experiments have shown that the plant has much fewer water requirements and more resistance to spring cold than other oilseeds, especially Rapeseed. In this study, 136 camelina double haploid lines from anther culture progeny (F1) of crosses of 27 selected parents from different countries were generated. After ensuring that the lines were double haploid, biochemical markers were used to investigate genetic diversity. In the biochemical markers section, grain oil content, grain protein and type of fatty acids were measured. The experiment was carried out based on a randomized complete block design with four replications. To determine fatty acids using chromatography, 18 types of fatty acids were identified in camelina seed oil. Genetic parameters including phenotypic and genotypic variation coefficients, heritability and genetic advance were estimated. In this study, the highest phenotypic and genotypic variation in fatty acids (C14:0-C16:1) were estimated. Also, the highest general heritability for fatty acids (96.49% for C20:0, 98.92% for C20:2 and 98.59% for C20:3) were assessed. In this reserach, two lines with values of 35.81-36.67% linolenic acid and four lines with values between 22.08-23% of linoleic acid were identified. Also, the ratio of omega 6 to omega 3 ranged between 0.479 0 and 0.759.

One of the biggest issues facing modern societies is diabetes, which is becoming more prevalent as a result of changes in daily routines. Numerous studies are currently being conducted to determine the impact of herbal medications on diabetes, given the negative side effects of chemical treatments used to treat the condition. The present study aimed to compare the antidiabetic effects of Caucasian whortleberry (Vaccinium arctostaphylos L.) methanolic extract and Ferula brewed extract (Ferula tea). To this end, 40 mice were given 200 mg/kg of streptozotocin intraperitoneally to induce diabetes in them. The mice were then divided into six groups, each consisting of ten mice: Group 1 included healthy mice that did not receive any treatment and was mentioned as the control; Group 2 was considered the diabetic control group and received a daily treatment of water; Group 3 and 4 received a daily treatment of the chemical drugs Acarbose or Metformin, which are regularly and separately used at a dose of 100 mg/kg of each drug. Group 5 received a daily treatment of 250 mg/kg of Caucasian whortleberry methanolic extract, and group 6 received a daily treatment of 300 mg/kg of Ferula tea. After the 40-day trial, the results showed that Caucasian whortleberry methanolic extract, Ferula tea, and Acarbose significantly reduced serum glucose levels compared to the control. In addition, Caucasian whortleberry methanolic extract caused a significant reduction in triglycerides and alkaline phosphatase.Abbreviations: STZ: Streptozotocin, HDL: High-Density Lipoproteins, LDL: Low-Density Lipoproteins, SGOT: Serum Glutamic Oxaloacetic Transaminase, ALP: Alkaline Phosphatase, HbA1c: Hemoglobin A1c, SGPT: Serum Glutamic Pyruvic Transaminase, CGA: Chlorogenic Acid. FBS: Fast Blood Sugar.

The present study compared the effects of four medicinal herbs on the growth, digestive enzyme activity, innate immunity, and oxidative status of common carp juveniles (Cyprinus carpio). The juvenile fish (average weight: 80.01 ± 0.34 g) were fed with four diets, including 1% Zataria multiflora oil (T2), Zingiber powder (T3), garlic essential oil extract (T4), garlic peel extract (T5), and control diet (T1) without any additives, for seven weeks (20 individuals per replicate). The results showed that weight gain and specific growth rate were highest in the treatment fed with garlic and ginger extracts (T3 and T4). The protease and lipase activities in the medicinal herb treatments (especially the garlic extract treatment; T4) were significantly higher than in the control. Fish fed with medicinal herb-supplemented diets (except for Z. multiflora oil; T2) also displayed higher levels of serum lysozyme, alternative complement, total immunoglobulin, superoxide dismutase, and total protein levels compared to the control diet. The highest levels were observed at the 1% level of Zingiber powder (T3) and garlic extract (T4). Medicinal herb supplementation at a level of 1% is a natural immunostimulant and growth promoter supplement recommended for common carp.

The chemical composition, phytochemical contents, and antibacterial potentials of the Eryngium Thyrsoideum Boiss. aerial parts were evaluated. The RP-HPLC-DAD method were applied to determine the phenolic and flavonoid contents of the extract. The hydrodistillation method with a Clevenger apparatus was used to isolate the essential oil, and the analyses of the oil was performed using GC-MS. Using the disc diffusion method and the broth microdilution assay, three gram-negative and six gram-positive bacterial strains were tested to assess the antibacterial effect of oil. The total flavonoid content of the extract was 0.81 ± 0.05 mg of quercetin equivalent per gram of dry plant materials, while its total phenolic content was 0.24 ± 0.01 mg of gallic acid equivalents per g of dry plant materials. According to the phytochemical screening results, phenols, flavonoids, steroids, glycosides, and saponins were detected in the ethyl acetate, n-hexane, and methanolic extracts. Results showed the existence of rutin, quercetin, and benzoic acid in the methanolic extract and revealed 46 compounds that constitute 93.07% of the obtained oil were recognized. Besides, 2,3,6-trimethyl benzaldehyde (24.15%), trans-4,10-epoxy-amorphane (15.55%), longifolene (13.72%), germacrene D (4.76%), 2,3,4-trimethyl benzaldehyde (4.67%), cis-chrysanthenyl acetate (3.3%), caryophyllene oxide (3.26%), and sesquicineole (2.78%) were identified in the oil as the major compounds. The oil showed in vitro significant inhibitory effect on Bacillus pumilus, Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus epidermidis, resulting from its high proportion of sesquiterpenes. Regarding the different bioactive compounds and the antibacterial properties of Eryngium thyrsoideum, this plant can be applied in cosmetic, food, and pharmaceutical products.

Drying kinetics of roots of Euphorbia condylocarpa M.Bieb. plant was studied. The root slices were dried at four temperature levels, also in shadow as control in three replications. The dried samples were considered for evaluation the total phenolic compounds (TPCs), free radical scavenging capacity inhibitory 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl, inhibiting gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Staphylococcus aureus. The obtained results were compared with control treatments. The analysis of variance showed a significant difference in 1% level for the main effects of temperature, thickness, and their interaction on drying time, TPC and changes of inhibiting P. aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. The results indicated that the highest content of total phenolic compounds were obtained at 40 °C, and 7 mm, and increasing the free radical scavenging capacity of 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl was achieved at 60 °C, and 7 mm. In addition, the highest inhibition zone values for the gram-positive bacterium of Staphylococcus aureus were obtained for the samples dried at 50 °C and thickness of 7 mm while the highest inhibition zone values for gram-negative bacterium of P. aeruginosa was obtained at 50 °C and 3 mm thickness.

Knowledge about the therapeutic properties and efficacy conferred by several plants to indigenous communities is based on observations, traditional knowledge, and forms of use or application within local, cultural, and territorial contexts. However, to some extent, favorable responses to these plants depend on the form in which a plant is used and its phytochemical composition. This work aimed to evaluate the contents of total polyphenols and flavonoids and antioxidant activity and determine qualitative phytochemical profiles of T. lucida, T. lunulata, C. mexicanum and C. macrostemum from samples of plants collected in four indigenous regions of Oaxaca, Mexico. The results showed that the contents of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity differed significantly among the evaluated species and that the effect of species was greater than the ecological-environmental effects caused by the origins of the samples. Tannins, alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, and coumarins were qualitatively identified in all evaluated species, and emodins were detected only in T. lucida. Among the communities visited, it was documented that all the species are used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, and antimicrobial, calming and anti-inflammatory properties were recorded for all four species. The effectiveness conferred to these plant species in the communities to treat ailments, including endemic diseases, is partly due to the complex phytochemical composition and the beneficial properties released during infusion or decoction.

Teucrium orientale is commonly used as an analgesic, antibacterial, antifungal, and antioxidant, protecting the liver and digestive system, and treating type 2 diabetes. Evaluation of anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory properties of ethanolic plant extract using animal models. The ethanolic extract was prepared using the maceration method from ground-dried aerial parts of the plant. Analgesic effects were determined by acetic acid-induced writhing and hot plate test on mice. The anti-inflammatory effect was evaluated using Carageenan and Cotton pellet tests on rats. In the writhing test, TOE (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg) caused a significant reduction in abdominal contractions. Inhibition percentages of abdominal contractions in test groups (100, 200 and 400 mg/kg), morphine and mefenamic acid were 87.40%, 91.80%, 98.29%, 94.40% and 96.89%, respectively, which indicate the visceral analgesic effects.In hot plate tests, the pain threshold significantly increased in test groups. Extract in the doses of 100mg/kg (P< 0.001), 200mg/kg (P< 0.0001) and 400mg/kg (P< 0.001) significantly reduced the paw edema in the carrageenan test at the second hour. In the cotton pellet test, the prescribed doses of the plant (100-200 mg/kg; P<0.0001) significantly reduced the formation of granuloma tissue and reduced the rate of edema. The percentage of inhibition of granuloma tissue by indomethacin and extract at doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg were 39.19%, 66.75% and 75.49%, respectively, and the percentage of inhibition of exudates were 26.5%, 55.57% and 67.24%, respectively. These results clearly showed the anti-nociceptive and anti-inflammatory effect of Teucrium orientale extract in animal models.

In this investigation essential oils of the wild and cultivated Eryngium caeruleum M.Bieb. were analysed by GC and GC/MS, and screened for their antimicrobial activities. At least seventy-three ingredients were identified in both specimens that limonene (16.4-32.3%), β-bisabolol (10.3-17.3%), δ-3-carene (6.6-9.4%), cis-limonene oxide (3.1-7.8%), (E)-β-farnesene (4.4-4.8%) and β-sesquiphellandrene (2.4-2.9%) were the major components. Also, the antibacterial and the antimycotic activities of these oils were reported against six bacterial and fungal strains. The antibacterial analysis displayed that both oils presented high activity versus all the tested Gram-negative strains in a range of MIC values from 4 to 8 mg/ml. The antifungal test results proved moderate activity against Candida krusei and Candida albicans (MIC values 1 to 4 mg/ml). Our results, have been proved that cultivation and domestication of this plant seems improved the microbial test results for the cultivated sample. These are aspects that turn this plant into useful crops for domestication and commercialization. Results of this investigation propose that it is noteworthy to grow this herb by the farmers in Babol, Mazandaran, Iran for pharmaceutical, therapeutic and food targets and natural bactericide agent.

Carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) causes damages to the testicles, liver, kidneys, lungs and brain. In the present study, we investigated protective effects of Sophora pachycarpa Schrenk ex C.A.Mey. root extract on testicular damage, liver histopathology and sex hormone levels in CCl4 intoxicated male rats. In present study the rats were divided into 6 experimental groups (n=6): 3 groups as pre-treatment groups that received doses of 50, 100 and 250 mg/kg/days of S. pachycarpa extract respectively by gavage for 21 days before intraperitoneal injection of 500µl/kg CCl4. CCl4 group received 500µl/kg CCl4 on the day of 21. Post-treatment group received 100 mg/kg/day S. pachycarpa for 10 days and 12h after injection of 250 µl/kg CCl4. Control group received 1ml distilled water for 21 days. Liver and testis tissues were sampled for microscopic examination and sex hormone levels in the serum were evaluated. Treatment of S. pachycarpa root extract (250 mg/kg) lead to a considerable improvement in the histopathological changes caused by CCl4 in the testis. However, the extract (250 mg/kg) caused inflammation and adverse tissue effects in liver. Serum levels of hormones also increased significantly in pre-treatment groups. Based on the results, the S. pachycarpa extract can improve the changes caused by CCl4 in the testis and sex hormones levels. But its higher doses can cause adverse effects in liver tissue.

Postoperative anxiety may increase postoperative pain perception and the need for opioids and potential complications of surgery. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of inhaled rose aromatherapy on the severity of anxiety after surgery. This clinical study was conducted on 100 patients undergoing lower extremity orthopedic surgery and was randomized into two intervention and placebo groups (50 patients in each group). After the end of the operation, all patients were examined in the recovery room for postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV), agitation, and pain. We identified agitation in 32 patients. After surgery, pain intensity, anxiety, nausea, and vomiting were less than in the placebo group (P< 0.05). Patient satisfaction was higher in the aromatherapy group (P= 0.011). Damask Rose aromatherapy reduces the severity of anxiety and pain and increases patient satisfaction after lower extremity orthopedic surgery. It is recommended as an inexpensive and low-risk complementary treatment.

Seseli is an important genus of the Apiaceae family with many aromatic species. These plants are widely used in traditional medicine, but there is little information about their phytochemical compositions and biological activities. An ecotype of Seseli transcaucasicum (Schischk.) Pimenov & Sdobnina, about which there is little phytochemical information, grows in the Hezar-Masjed Mountains of northeastern Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate the anticancer activity and antioxidant properties of ethanolic and methanolic extracts from the leaves and seeds of this plant. Cytotoxic activity against MCF7 and HSkMC was determined by the MTT method, and the antioxidant properties of the extracts were evaluated by the DPPH and PFRAP methods. The results showed that the methanolic extract of seeds had the greatest effect on inhibiting the growth of cancer cells at 48 and 72 hours, with IC50 values of 54.35 and 50.52 μg/ml, respectively. Moreover, the methanolic extract of the seeds had the greatest effect on the degradation of DPPH free radicals with an IC50 value of 44.64 μg/ml, and this inhibitory effect was comparable to the effect of ascorbic acid. The antioxidant effect of iron reduction of the different extracts was significantly lower than that of ascorbic acid. However, among the extracts, the reducing power of the methanolic seed extract was better than the others. Considering that the methanolic seed extract had the most lethal effect on cancer cells, it seems that the extract that has stronger antioxidant power also has stronger anticancer properties.

In arid and semi-arid areas salinity reduces agricultural productivity. Biostimulants based on amino acids promote plant growth and yield while significantly reducing abiotic stresses-related injuries. As a result, current study assessed the effect of biostimulants based on free amino acids on Moldavian balm under salinity stress. A factorial experiment using a randomized complete block design with three replications was done. The plants were imposed with four levels of salinity (0, 20, 40 and 60 mM NaCl) and were treated using four formulations of amino acids (Kadostim, Fosnutren, Humiforte and Aminolforte). The results revealed that increasing the salinity level significantly reduced growth parameters such as fresh and dry weight of biomass, root length, shoot length, secondary branch length, crown diameter, internode number, internode length, secondary branch number, leaf number and biochemical parameters such as RWC, chlorophyll a, b, total and carotenoids while increased some osmolytes such as soluble sugar and proline in root and shoot. Leaf spraying of the bio-stimulates based on amino acids, significantly improved the negative effects of salinity stress on growth and biochemical parameters in Moldavian balm, and among them Kadostim had the most significantly positive effects on morphological and biochemical parameters and followed by Aminolforte.