Ayurveda is the ancient (before 2500 b.c.) Indian system of health care and longevity. It involves a holistic view of man, his health, and illness. Ayurvedic treatment of a disease consists of salubrious use of drugs, diets, and certain practices. Medicinal preparations are invariably complex mixtures, based mostly on plant products. Around 1,250 plants are currently used in various Ayurvedic p...

Hyperlipidemia/hypercholesteremia are major risk factors for atherosclerosis and cardiovascular diseases. Root of Asparagus racemosus (AR) is widely used in Ayurvedic system of medicine in India and is known for its steroidal saponin content. This study was designed to investigate the hypocholesteremic and antioxidant potential of AR root in both normo- and hypercholesteremic animals. Normal an...

This research was undertaken to gather data in support of an assessment of the likelihood that Copitarsia decolora (Guenée) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), a pest of asparagus, Asparagus officinalis L., and other crops, could escape from the pathway followed by asparagus from the field to the consumer. Asparagus that is destroyed by cooking and consumption, being run through a trash compactor or garb...

The asparagus season has recently ended for northern hemisphere crops. Tradition has it that, at the summer solstice, growers stop cutting spears to allow the plant to grow and produce enough resources to generate spears for the next spring’s crop. The plant is becoming increasingly fashionable and production is increasing to meet demand. But the cultivated asparagus has a wild relative that is...

the hptlc analysis, antioxidant, and antigout activity of asparagus racemosus, withania somnifera, vitex negundo, plumbago zeylanica, butea monosperma and tephrosia purpurea extracts were investigated. the chemical fingerprinting were carried out by high performance thin layer chromatography (hptlc), antioxidant activity by abts, dpph, frap radical scavenging assays, and antiogout activity by c...

The goals of this study were to identify pupal parasitoids of the asparagus miner, Ophiomyia simplex Loew (Diptera: Agromyzidae), and examine the effect of different diets and floral resources on the lifespan of adult asparagus miners and their parasitoids. We also measured the effect of parasitism on stem damage caused by the asparagus miner. The identity and abundance of the parasitoids of th...

BACKGROUND The asparagus miner is a putative vector of Fusarium spp., which have been implicated in globally declining asparagus production. Growers currently apply broad-spectrum insecticides for the asparagus miner, but lack management guidelines for adequately controlling the pest. Our aims were (1) to determine the lower developmental threshold of the asparagus miner, (2) develop and valida...