The drug yielding potential of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is largely due to the presence of phyto-constituent 'curcumin.' Curcumin has been found to possess a myriad of therapeutic activities ranging from anti-inflammatory to neuroprotective. Lack of requisite high curcumin containing genotypes and variation in the curcumin content of turmeric at different agro climatic regions are the major s...

The data reviewed indicate that extracts of Curcuma longa exhibit anti-inflammatory activity after parenteral application in standard animal models used for testing anti-inflammatory activity. It turned out that curcumin and the volatile oil are at least in part responsible for this action. It appears that when given orally, curcumin is far less active than after i.p. administration. This may b...

This paper deals with the ethnobotany of turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) an ancient crop having its origin and early domestication in South Asia and ethnobotanically very important. Due to its manifold uses in cultural and social life of ethnic people of Asia with special reference to South and South East Asia, has very early domestication and evolutionary history. In India, its history begins from...

The traditional use of Curcuma caesia leaves by farmers to stimulate rice seed germination is scientifically concirmed in this article.

The use of natural products as fertility regulating agent especially among woman have been known since times immemorial and are still practiced in rural areas. In the present study, an attempt has been made to analyze the possible modulatory influence of aqueous extract of Curcuma longa rhizome on biochemical constituents (viz. glycogen, sialic acid, cholesterol, acid phosphatase and alkaline p...

Introduction: Since Curcuma longa extract and curcumin have been shown to be potent antioxidant agents, they were used in cultured adult mouse spinal cord slices to investigate whether they can inhibit apoptosis in motor neurons. Methods: Slices from the thoracic region of adult mice spinal cord were divided into four groups: 1. Freshlyprepared slices (time 0); 2. Control; 3. Slices treated by ...

Sera from the rats with different drug treatments (atorvastatin, Tiaozhi granule, or its extracts) were collected. LO-2 cells or HepG2 cells were pretreated with different sera as the following groups randomly: (1) blank control group, (2) positive control group (atorvastatin group), (3) Tiaozhi granule water extract groups, (4) Tiaozhi granule alcohol extract groups, and (5) alcohol extracts f...

Mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascades are universal signal transduction modules that play crucial role in plant growth and development as well as biotic and abiotic stress responses. 20 and 17 MAPKs have been characterized in Arabidopsis and rice respectively, which are used for identification of the putative MAPKs in other higher plants. However, no MAPK gene sequences have yet been...

Mycotoxins are naturally occurring substances produced by fungi growing on food and animal feed. Aflatoxins are the most toxic group of mycotoxins, and they are produced by two species of the Aspergillus. Aflatoxin constitutes a real threat to the health of livestock as well as humans. Aflatoxins especially aflatoxin B 1 are known to be genotoxic and carcinogenic, can produce acute necrosis, ci...

The microscopic and macroscopic characters of the rhizome of Curcuma domestica Val. were studied. The behavior of the powdered drug in the presence of various chemicals was also studied. Preliminary phytochemical screening on the various extracts of the rhizome was done in order to ascertain the various chemical constituents present. These studies were carried out to identify this plant for fut...