Plants used in traditional medicine have stood up to the test of time and contributed many novel compounds for preventive and curative medicine to modern science. India is sitting on a gold mine of well recorded and traditionally well practiced knowledge of herbal medicine. Specially, plants growing at high altitude in Himalayan pastures are time-honored sources of health and general well being of local inhabitants. As of today, Himalayan plants are a major contributor to the herbal pharmaceutical industry both of India and other countries. Plants growing at higher altitudes are subjected to an assault of diverse testing situations including higher doses of mutagenic UV-radiation, physiological drought, desiccation and strong winds. Plants interact with stressful environments by physiological adaptation and altering the biochemical profile of plant tissues and producing a spectrum of secondary metabolites. Secondary metabolites are of special interest to scientists because of their unique pharmacophores and medicinal properties. Secondary metabolites like polyphenols, terpenes and alkaloids have been reported to possess antimutagenic and anticancer properties in many studies. The fundamental aspiration of the current review is to divulge the antimutagenic/anticancer potential of five alpine plants used as food or medicine by the populations living at high altitudes.
Abstracthe present study was aimed at assessing the antimicrobial potential of various extracts of Euphorbia thymifolia against human pathogenic strains of Salmonella typhimurium and Shigella boydii. The antibacterial activity was determined by agar disc diffusion and broth microdilution techniques. The results showed that the growth of the organisms were inhibited by both acetone and hexane extracts of Euphorbia thymifolia. The acetone extracts showed significantly higher zones of inhibition. The minimum inhibitory concentration of the leaf and stem extracts were 0.078, 0.156, 0.312mg/ml. The phytochemical analysis was carried out for the different parts of the plant. The qualitative analysis showed that alkaloids, phenols and flavonoids were present in both acetone and hexane extracts. The result of the present study indicate that Euphorbia thymifolia has many medicinal values and can be widely studied to extract natural compounds which are beneficial to human beings.
Abstract:he latex producing plants belonging to families Euphorbiaceae, Asclepiadaceae, Apocynaceae, Urticaceae, Convolvulaceae, Sapotaceae were reviewed for their suitability as petrocrops. Latex is a milky fluid secreted by lactiferous canals found in roots, stems, leaves and fruits of all flowering plants. The milky sap is a rich source of triterpenes as secondary metabolites. The latex of such plants contains hydrocarbons of high molecular weight. The entire plant of Euphorbia cotinifolia (family Euphorbiaceae) is known to contain latex which is a rich source of hydrocarbons and thus a valuable potential source for bioprospection for biofuel. This review focuses on currently available and relevant information among petrocrops and their biochemical pathways. Further, it discusses biotechnological approaches in different petrocrops and their suitability as biofuel.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.