Introduction: In India, mango, neem and babool chewing twigs are considered a common way of cleaning teeth. Dental caries is steadily increasing in the underdeveloped and developing countries. These twigs possess medicinal properties. The present study was conducted to evaluate the antimicrobial efficacy of these chewing sticks on the caries causing microorganism, Streptococcus mutans. Aim: An ...

In the present study, aqueous extract of eight plants, namely Azadirachta indica A. Juss, Melia azedarach Linn., Lantana camara L. Moldenke., Cannabis sativa Linn., Nerium indicum Mill., Eucalyptus sp., Ricinus communis Linn. and Solanum nigrum Linn. were tested for antifeedant and toxic effects against Pieris brassicae (Linn.). The ethanol extract of four potential plants were further tested f...

Canna indica Linn. (Cannaceae) is used both as medicine and food. Traditionally, various parts of C. indica are exploited to treat blood pressure, dropsy, fever, inflammatory diseases etc. However, to date there is no reliable micropropagation protocol for C. indica. We present here a regeneration technique C. indica with banana micropropagation medium (BM). BM supplemented with 3% sucrose, 0.7...

The infectivity of four species of entomopathogenic nematodes, Steinernema carpocapsae (Weiser) [Breton strain], Steinernema riobrave Cabanillas, Poinar & Raulston [Weslaco strain], Heterorhabditis bacteriophora Poinar [HP88 strain], and Heterorhabditis indica Poinar, Karunakar & David [Coimbatore strain] was examined in the laboratory against two subterranean termites: Reticulitermes flavipes ...

Homalodisca vitripennis (Germar) and related species have caused millions of dollars in damage to southern California vineyards in recent years through the vectoring of Pierce's disease. However, the effects of surrounding vegetation on the dispersal and distribution of H. vitripennis are poorly understood. Therefore, the relationship between dispersal rates and patch quality was tested, as wel...

AIM This study evaluates the disinfection of dentinal tubules using Propolis, Azadirachta indica (alcoholic and aqueous extracts), 2% chlorhexidine gel and calcium hydroxide against Candida albicans biofilm formed on tooth substrate. MATERIALS & METHOD One hundred and five human teeth were infected with Candida albicans for 2 days. Samples were divided into 7 groups. Group I- Propolis, Group ...

Rosaindica and Psidiumguajava methanol extracts were tested for their effect on urease and collagenase enzyme by using phenol hypochlorite method and gelatin digestion assay, respectively. Among the two plant extracts evaluated, the highest inhibitory activity against Jack bean urease was exerted by R. indica(47.11%), while for collagenase P. guajava showed complete inhibition of enzyme at conc...

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of Mangifera indica leaves extract on the kidney function parameters in alloxan induced diabetic Swiss albino mice. Forty five albino mice (weighing 28 to 32 g) were randomly divided into control, alloxan treated and Mangifera indica treated mice group. Diabetes was induced in mice by injecting intraperitoneally alloxan monohydrate at ...

The effect of aqueous leaf extract of Azadirachta indica (A. indica) was evaluated in paracetamol induced hepatotoxicity in rats. Liver necrosis was produced by administering single dose of paracetamol (2 g/kg, p.o.). The liver damage was evidenced by elevated levels of serum aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), gamma glutamyl transpeptidase (gamma-GT) and by histop...

A protocol is described for individually collecting two populations of sperm cells, Svn and Sua, from pollen of Plumbago zeylanica. Pollen grains were burst in 10 mM MOPS buffer containing 0.8 M mannitol (pH 4.6). Paired sperm cells released from pollen were separated using a microinjector. Svn and Sua were then collected individually with a microinjector, based upon known size differences. Col...