Antioxidant activity of hydromethanolic extract of Urtica parviflora Roxb. (family Urticaceae) was investigated by different in vitro methods, namely, nitric oxide scavenging, DPPH scavenging, and reducing power assay. In the present study, plant extract exhibited dose dependent free radical scavenging and reducing activity. The antioxidant activity of the hydromethanolic extract of Urtica parv...

Solanum paniculatum L. is a plant species widespread throughout tropical America, especially in the Brazilian Savanna region. It is used in Brazil for culinary purposes and in folk medicine to treat liver and gastric dysfunctions, as well as hangovers. Because of the wide use of this plant as a therapeutic resource and food, the present study aimed at evaluating the mutagenic and cytotoxic effe...

A key aspect of a primate’s ecology is its food source, the very nature which spatially and seasonally dependent may be affected by anthropic pressures. One most endangered, yet best-studied, strepsirrhine primates ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta), species that has experienced significant human-induced habitat loss over many decades. To help understand feeding variability across time space, I pr...

This study presents an experimental approach to assess the relative importance of climatic and biotic factors as determinants of species' geographical distributions. We asked to what extent responses of grassland plant species to biotic interactions vary with climate, and to what degree this variation depends on the species' biogeography. Using a gradient from oceanic to continental climate rep...

Arnica Montana extract, a natural limuloid contains about 59 ingredients out of which sesquiterpene lactones helenalin, and dihydrohelenalin, are considered significant medicinally active ingredients. Arnica Montana is commonly used in folk medicine, CAM, and Homeopathic drug as neurotropic, cardiotropic, Anti-inflammatory, Anti-bacterial, Anti-oxidant, Anti tumors, to control diabetes, etc. Th...

Several species of Aspidosperma plants are used to treat diseases in the tropics, including Aspidosperma ramiflorum, which acts against leishmaniasis, an activity that is experimentally confirmed. The species, known as guatambu-yellow, yellow peroba, coffee-peroba and matiambu, grows in the Atlantic Forest of Brazil in the South to the Southeast regions. Through a guided biofractionation of A. ...

The aim of this study was to determine the nutritive value of some legume species in salt-affected soils of South-East Anatolian region using chemical composition and in vitro gas production kinetics. In this study, Lotus corniculatus, Trifolium alexandrinum, Medicago sativa were sown and tested in four different locations. A 3 by 4 factorial design with 3 legume species and 4 salt levels (non ...

Polygonum punctatum (Polygonaceae) is an herb known in some regions of Brazil as "erva-de-bicho" and is used to treat intestinal disorders. The dichloromethane extract of the aerial parts of this plant showed strong activity in a bioautographic assay with the fungus Cladosporium sphaerospermum. The bioassay-guided chemical fractionation of this extract afforded the sesquiterpene dialdehyde poly...

Understanding the potential for adverse drug reactions (ADRs), from herb-drug interactions, is a key aspect of medicinal plant safety, with particular relevance for public health in countries where medicinal plant use is highly prevalent. We undertook an in-depth assessment of extracts of Hyptis verticillata Jacq., via its impact on activities of key cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes (CYPs 1A1, 1A2...

Aboveground production in terrestrial plant communities is commonly expressed in amount of carbon, or biomass, per unit surface. Alternatively, expressing production per unit volume allows the comparison of communities by their fundamental capacities in packing carbon. In this work we reanalyzed published data from more than 900 plant communities across nine ecosystems to show that standing dry...