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BackgroundPlants have served either as a natural templates for the development of new chemicals or a phytomedicine since antiquity. Therefore, the present study was aimed to appraise the polarity directed antioxidant, cytotoxic, protein kinase inhibitory, antileishmanial and glucose modulatory attributes of a Himalayan medicinal plant- Quercus dilatata.MethodsTotal phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined colorimetrically and various polyphenols were identified by RP-HPLC analysis. Brine shrimp lethality, SRB and MTT assays were employed to test cytotoxicity against Artemia salina and human cancer cell lines respectively. Antileishmanial activity was determined using standard MTT protocol. Glucose modulation was assessed by α-amylase inhibition assay while disc diffusion assay was used to establish protein kinase inhibitory and antifungal spectrum.ResultsAmong 14 extracts of aerial parts, distilled water-acetone extract demonstrated maximum extract recovery (10.52% w/w), phenolic content (21.37 ± 0.21 μg GAE/mg dry weight (DW)), total antioxidant capacity (4.81 ± 0.98 μg AAE/mg DW) and reducing power potential (20.03 ± 2.4 μg/mg DW). On the other hand, Distilled water extract proficiently extracted flavonoid content (4.78 ± 0.51 μg QE/mg DW). RP-HPLC analysis revealed the presence of significant amounts of phenolic metabolites (0.049 to 15.336 μg/mg extract) including, pyrocatechol, gallic acid, catechin, chlorogenic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid and quercetin. Highest free radical scavenging capacity was found in Methanol-Ethyl acetate extract (IC50 8.1 ± 0.5 μg/ml). In the brine shrimp toxicity assay, most of the tested extracts (57%) showed high cytotoxicity. Among these, Chloroform-Methanol extract had highest cytotoxicity against THP-1 cell line (IC50 3.88 ± 0.53 μg/ml). About 50% of the extracts were found to be moderately antiproliferative against Hep G2 cell line. Methanol extract exhibited considerable protein kinase inhibitory activity against Streptomyces 85E strain (28 ± 0.35 mm bald phenotype at 100 μg/disc; MIC = 12.5 μg/ disc) while, Chloroform extract displayed maximum antidiabetic activity (α-amylase inhibition of 21.61 ± 1.53% at 200 μg/ml concentration). The highest antileishmanial potential was found in Ethyl acetate-Acetone extract (12.91 ± 0.02% at 100 μg/ml concentration), while, Q. dilatata extracts also showed a moderate antifungal activity.ConclusionThis study proposes that multiple-solvent system is a crucial variable to elucidate pharmacological potential of Q. dilatata and the results of the present findings prospects its potential as a resource for the discovery of novel anticancer, antidiabetic, antileishmanial and antioxidant agents.

Salinity is a growing problem affecting soils and agriculture in many parts of the world. The presence of salt in plant cells disrupts many basic metabolic processes, contributing to severe negative effects on plant development and growth. This review focuses on the effects of salinity on chloroplasts, including the structures and function of these organelles. Chloroplasts house various important biochemical reactions, including photosynthesis, most of which are considered essential for plant survival. Salinity can affect these reactions in a number of ways, for example, by changing the chloroplast size, number, lamellar organization, lipid and starch accumulation, and interfering with cross-membrane transportation. Research has shown that maintenance of the normal chloroplast physiology is necessary for the survival of the entire plant. Many plant species have evolved different mechanisms to withstand the harmful effects of salt-induced toxicity on their chloroplasts and its machinery. The differences depend on the plant species and growth stage and can be quite different between salt-sensitive (glycophyte) and salt-tolerant (halophyte) plants. Salt stress tolerance is a complex trait, and many aspects of salt tolerance in plants are not entirely clear yet. In this review, we discuss the different mechanisms of salt stress tolerance in plants with a special focus on chloroplast structure and its functions, including the underlying differences between glycophytes and halophytes.

BackgroundThe concept of botanical therapeutics has revitalized due to wide importance of plant derived pharmaceuticals. Therefore, the ameliorative characteristics of Ajuga bracteosa were studied.MethodsTotal phenolic content, flavonoid content, antioxidant capacity, reducing power and free-radical scavenging activity were determined colorimetrically. Specific polyphenols were quantified by RP-HPLC analysis. Preliminary cytotoxicity was tested using brine shrimp lethality assay while antiproliferative activity against THP-1 and Hep-G2 cell lines was determined by MTT and SRB protocols respectively. Antileishmanial potential was assessed via MTT colorimetric method. To investigate antidiabetic prospect, α-amylase inhibition assay was adopted whereas disc diffusion method was used to detect likely protein kinase inhibitory, antibacterial and antifungal activities.ResultsAmong fifteen different extracts, maximum total phenolic content (10.75 ± 0.70 μg GAE/mg DW), total reducing power (23.90 ± 0.70 μg AAE/mg DW) and total antioxidant capacity (11.30 ± 0.80 μg AAE/mg DW) were exhibited by methanol extract with superlative percent extract recovery (17.50 ± 0.80% w/w). Chloroform-methanol extract demonstrated maximum flavonoid content (4.10 ± 0.40 μg QE/mg DW) and ethanol extract exhibited greatest radical scavenging activity (IC50 14.40 ± 0.20 μg/ml). RP-HPLC based quantification confirmed polyphenols such as pyrocatechol, gallic acid, resorcinol, catechin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, syringic acid, p-coumaric acid, ferulic acid, vanillic acid, coumarin, sinapinic acid, trans-cinnamic acid, rutin, quercetin and kaempferol. The brine shrimp lethality assay ranked 78.60% extracts as cytotoxic (LC50 ≤ 250 μg/ml) whereas significant THP-1 inhibition was shown by methanol-acetone extract (IC50 4.70 ± 0.43 μg/ml). The antiproliferative activity against Hep-G2 hepatoma cancer cell line was demonstrated by n-hexane, ethylacetate and methanol-distilled water (IC50 8.65–8.95 μg/ml) extracts. Methanol extract displayed prominent protein kinase inhibitory activity (MIC 12.5 μg/disc) while n-hexane extract revealed remarkable antileishmanial activity (IC50 4.69 ± 0.01 μg/ml). The antidiabetic potential was confirmed by n-hexane extract (44.70 ± 0.30% α-amylase inhibition at 200 μg/ml concentration) while a moderate antibacterial and antifungal activities were unveiled.ConclusionThe variation in biological spectrum resulted due to use of multiple solvent systems for extraction. We also deduce that the valuable information gathered can be utilized for discovery of anticancer, antileishmanial, antioxidant and antidiabetic bioactive lead candidates.