The poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima) is a much-maligned plant which is thought by the public and some health professionals to be extremely toxic. Despite pronouncements by public health officials to the contrary, the poinsettia continues to be recognized as a poisonous plant. To determine if there was any validity to the toxicity claims, 849,575 plant exposures reported to the American Associ...

Selenium is an essential mineral element to humans and animals because it is an important component of selenoproteins that are important for functioning of the metabolism. Because of poor soil conditions in various regions of the world, the enrichment of edible plants with selenium via the biofortification strategy has been implemented. However, selenium in the context of plant mineral nutritio...

isolated five known iridoids glycosides (scrophuloside a, harpagoside b, 5-hydroxyloganin, 8-o-acetylharpagide and 6-o-methyl,1-glucopyranosyl catalpol ),one phenyl ethanoid glycoside (verbascoside) and a phenyl ethanol amine (2-(4-chlorobenzyl amino) ethanol ) compound from the methanolic extract of aerial parts of scrophularia oxysepala using by high performance liquid chromatography based on...

Cytotoxicity assays using cell cultures may be an alternative to assess biological toxicity of plant extracts with potential phytotherapeutic properties. This study compared three methods to prepare culture media for the exposure of Vero cells to plant extracts. Leaves of Glandularia selloi (Spreng.) Tronc. were used to prepare culture medium with aqueous extract, extract in culture medium and ...

Secondary compounds in fruit mediate interactions with natural enemies and seed dispersers, influencing plant survival and species distributions. The functions of secondary metabolites in plant defenses have been well-studied in green tissues, but not in reproductive structures of plants. In this study, the distribution of toxicity within plants was quantified and its influence on seed survival...

Podophyllin, a crude plant extract with low efficacy, high toxicity, and a serious mutagenicity profile does not comply with the WHO guidelines for plant derived treatments and should be removed from clinical treatment protocols. Home treatment with pharmaceutical products based on podophyllotoxin-the purified, standardised active antiwart ingredient of podophyllin-represents safe and effective...

Plant medicine becomes more popular thought the world in these days probably of its latest toxicity. Ayurveda that leads in plant medicine preserves the natural form of herbs maximum, in various pharmaceutical preparations. Isolation of active principles has not proved much fruitful. However, the need of hour is cultivation of more medicinal plants along with popularization of their use traditi...

Grangea maderaspatana (L.) Poir. is a popular Indian medicinal plant belonging to the Asteraceae family. This plant commonly known as Madras Carpet grown in wet places. A wide range of phytochemical constituents have been isolated from this plant. It has long been used in traditional Ayurvedic Indian medicine for various diseases. This plant is pharmacologically studied for oestrogenicity, anti...

The chemical composition of the essential oil from the whole plant of Acalypha segetalis Muell. Arg. was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Nineteen volatile constituents were identified. The main compounds were alpha-pinene (8.5%), neophytadiene, isomer II (14.7%) and neophytadiene, isomer III (33.6%). Toxicity and larvicidal assays revealed that the plant had LC50 values of 14.0 microg/mL and 45.4 mic...

Arsenic is one of the heavy metals and nearly all its compounds, especially organic compounds, are toxic. The wide spectrum of diseases caused by this element has led to evaluation of the toxicity of different arsenic species and identification of the major natural and anthropogenic pollution sources of it in the nature. Mining activities are among the main sources of anthropogenic pollution of...