The enzymatic potential of the cultured plant cells can be employed for bioconversion purposes. Plant enzymes are able to catalyze regio- and stereo-specific reactions, and therefore can be applied for the production of desired substances. The biotransformation of foreign substrates with suspension cells of Peganum harmala was tested with (±) phenylethyl propionate. The callus cultures of Pegan...

cell cultures of varthemia persica, peganum harmala and pycnocycla spinosa have been studied to evaluate their abilities to bioconvert exogenous hydroquinone. arbutin is an important substance that has several pharmaceutical applications; therefore, we have established v. persica and p. spinosa cultures which seem to be able to metabolize hydroquinone. callus cultures of v. persica were establi...

Parkinson’s disease is one of the most common neurodegenerative disorders.  There are many documents about the effects of oxidative stress in Parkinson’s disease etiology. Angiotensin II activates NADPH dependent oxidases and causes superoxides formation.  Peganum harmala L. extract, which has angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitory effect, is considered to evaluate oxidative stress inhi...

Malignant theileriosis of sheep is a highly fatal, acute or subacute disease is caused by the tick-borne protozoan parasite, Theileria hirci. In this investigation ten healthy male lambs aged 5-6 months were randomly divided into two groups, A and B and were kept in isolated tick-proof pens. They were treated for internal and external parasite before commencement of the experiment. The lambs we...

This survey was undertaken in the Errachidia province in south-eastern Morocco in order to inventory the main medicinal plants used in folk medicine to treat arterial hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Four hundred individuals who knew about and/or had used the medicinal plants for the indicated diseases, including some herbal healers, were interviewed throughout different regions of the provi...

The title compound, C(20)H(19)N(3)O, was obtained by condensation of 2,3-dihydro-1H,9H-pyrrolo-[2,1-b]quinazolin-9-one (alkaloid de-oxy-vasicinone, isolated from Peganum Harmala) with 4-(dimethyl-amino)-benzaldehyde in the presence of sodium methoxide. The 2,3-dihydro-1H,9H-pyrrolo-[2,1-b]quinazolin-9-one part of the mol-ecule is roughly planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.0178 Å) and is essentially c...