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Background: Melatonin, an indoleamine compound, has the ability to regulate a lot of physiological and biochemical processes under different environmental stresses such as drought stress. Materials and methods: So, this investigation was done to study the physiological role of melatonin on Moringa oleifera plants grown in sandy soil at normal and drought stress. Results: Subjecting M. oleifera plant to drought stress caused significant decreases in growth, photosynthetic pigment, indole acetic acid (IAA), element contents, yield, and yield attributes, meanwhile increased lipid peroxidation is expressed as malondialdehyde (MDA) and various antioxidant enzymes as superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and peroxidase (POX). On the other hand, foliar treatment with different concentrations of melatonin significantly increased growth parameters, yield quantity, and quality of M. oleifera plant at normal and drought-stressed conditions via improving photosynthetic pigments (IAA), phenolic and element contents, and antioxidant enzyme systems, whereas declined malondialdhyde (MDA) contents as compared with their corresponding untreated controls (M0). Foliar treatment with 100 mM melatonin showed the greatest growth criteria and yield components of M. oleifera plants at either normal irrigation or under drought stress. This concentration also improved amino acid constituents of the yielded M. oleifera plants compared with other concentrations under normal and stress conditions. Conclusion: We can conclude that spraying M. oleifera with melatonin could alleviate the reduced effect of drought stress.

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AIM:To assess the antibacterial and antifungal potentials of different parts of Moringa oleifera plant using different extraction methods in attempts to formulate natural dental remedies from this plant.MATERIAL AND METHODS:Three solvents extracts (Ethanol, acetone, and ethyl acetate) of different parts of Egyptian Moringa tree were prepared and tested against oral pathogens: Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, and Candida albicans using disc diffusion method; As well as to incorporate the plant extract to formulate experimental toothpaste and mouthwash. The two dental remedies were assessed against the same microbial strains. Statistical analysis was performed using One-Way ANOVA test to compare the inhibition zone diameter and t-test.RESULTS:Ethanol extracts as well as leaves extracts demonstrated the highest significant mean inhibition zone values (P ≤ 0.05) against Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans growth. However, all extracts revealed no inhibition zone against Candida albicans. For dental remedies, experimental toothpaste exhibited higher mean inhibition than the mouthwash against Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans and only the toothpaste revealed antifungal effect against Candida albicans.CONCLUSION:The different extracts of different parts of Moringa showed an antibacterial effect against Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans growth. The novel toothpaste of ethanolic leaves extract has antimicrobial and antifungal potential effects all selected strains.

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Background: Two cultivars (Balady and Dukat) of dill plants were grown in the Experimental Farm Station of Agriculture Faculty, Cairo University, during two seasons of 2014/2015 and 2015/2016. This investigation aims to determine the response of two dill cultivars to seven fertilizer treatments, i.e., control, 100% mineral fertilizer, 100% biofertilizer, 100% organic fertilizer, 50% organic fertilizer, 100% organic fertilizer with biofertilizer, and 50% organic fertilizer with biofertilizer. Data on plant height, leaf number, and some chemical composition such as antioxidant and nitrate accumulation were recorded in the vegetative growth stage. Results: The results demonstrated that dill cv. Dukat gave the highest plants (cm), maximum leaf number per plant, pigment content (mg/g), total carbohydrates (%), nitrogen, and phosphorus percentages in the vegetative growth stage. Meanwhile, dill cv. Balady recorded the maximum potassium percentage and low content of nitrate accumulation (mg/kg) in the vegetative growth stage. Both dill cultivars contained antioxidants without significant differences between them. The best fertilization treatments were 100% organic fertilization with biofertilizer and 100% chemical fertilizer for plant height (cm), leaf number per plant, pigment content, antioxidant percentage, total carbohydrate percentage, and N and P percentages of two dill genotypes. On the other hand, 50% organic fertilization with biofertilizers was recorded as the best treatment for nitrate accumulation and K percentage with two dill cultivars. Conclusion: These results prove that chemical fertilizers could be completely replaced by organic sources supplemented by NPK Symbion without any negative effect on dill vegetative growth and or nutrient contents.

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