Seeds of the plant species Strychnos potatorum and Moringa oleifera contain natural polyelectrolytes which can be used as coagulants to clarify turbid waters. In laboratory tests, direct filtration of a turbid surface water (turbidity 15-25 NTU, heterotrophic bacteria 280-500 cfu ml(-1), and fecal coliforms 280-500 MPN 100 ml(-1)), with seeds of S. potatorum or M. oleifera as coagulant, produce...

On-going global pandemic COVID-19 has spread all over the world and led to more than 1.97 million deaths till date. Natural compounds may be useful protecting health in this perilous condition. Mechanism of shuttle entry SARS-COV-2 virus is by interaction with viral spike protein human angiotensin-converting enzyme-2 (ACE-2) receptor. To explore potential natural therapeutics, 213 important phy...

Usually a moderately-sized liane, Slrychnos giiianemis (Aubl.) Martius occurs in forests, more especially along creeks and small rivers throughout thé middle and upper Rio Orinoco basin and entire Amazon basin (1). Among thé plants of thé Strychnos genus, this Slrychnos is known to be one of thé principal ingrédients of thé curare produced by numerous Indian tribes. This species contains a grou...

“Quina” (Strychnos pseudoquina A. St. Hil) is a medicinal plant species from the Brazilian Cerrado. As its seeds show dormancy, they were subjected to the treatments precooling at 5oC during 7 days, pre-heating at 40oC during 7 days, pre-soaking in sulfuric acid PA during 5 and 15 min, pre-soaking in boiling water during 5 and 15 min, pre-soaking in 100 and 200 ppm gibberellic acid during 48 h,...

A reinvestigation of Strychnos icaja roots has resulted in the isolation of two tertiary quasi-symmetric bisindole alkaloids named strychnogucines A (1) and B (2). Their structures were identified by means of spectroscopic data interpretation. Compound 2 was highly active in vitro and compound 1 moderately active against four strains of Plasmodium falciparum. Strychnogucine B (2) was more activ...

Thousands of plant species rely on ants to disperse their seeds, including many South American epiphytes and vines, which, apart from minimizing competition among seedlings, may also reduce competition among different plant species (Handel & Beattie, 1990). The lianas of the Genus Strychnos (Loganiaceae) are recognized as having fruits with highly poisonous seeds containing strychnine in the in...

BACKGROUND This paper reports a study undertaken in three remote communities (Mahaboboka, Amboronabo, Mikoboka), located in Sakaraha, Southwestern Madagascar. Not only villages are far away from sanitary infrastructures and doctors but drugs and consulting fees are unaffordable to villagers. They rely essentially on natural resources for health care as for most of rural areas in Madagascar. Thi...

Around 20,000 snakebites are reported annually in Brazil and 90% of them are inflicted by species of the genus Bothrops. Intravenous administration of antibothropic antivenom neutralizes the systemic actions, but it is of little effect on the reversal of local symptoms and often induces adverse reactions, a context that drives the search for complementary treatments for snakebite accidents. Veg...