Artemisia judaica L. is a medicinal plant that is traditionally used to relieve abdominal pains through its carminative activity. In this study, spectroscopic analysis was employed to investigate the carminative activity associated with A. judaica. Using infrared spectroscopy, the carminative activity was evaluated based on the first derivative of IR-characteristic stretching signal of CO2. Our results indicate that A. judaica oil effectively reduced the response of CO2 signal equivalent to thymol standard. Additionally, 1H-NMR spectroscopy was utilized to assess surface activity of A. judaica crude oil through the reduction of interfacial tension in a D2O/CDCl3 system. Apparently, 10 mg of the oil was able to solubilize water in a chloroform layer up to 4.3% (w/w). In order to correlate the observed surface activity of the oil to its actual composition, GC-MS and GC-FID structural analysis were undertaken. The results revealed that the oil composition consists of oxygenated terpenes which might be responsible for the carminative effect. Furthermore, owing to its sensitivity, our model provides a fundamental basis for the pharmacological assessment of trace amounts of oils with high precision and accuracy.

In this review, we discuss the relationship between environmental crop management and adaptation to warming climates of legume plants and plant breeding, for drought tolerance. The benefits connected to the impact of the expansion of appropriate legumes-based agriculture for arid zones are analyzed. We need to two aims to develop programs of breeding and management guided to drought tolerance. The first one is enhancing productivity. The second one is to improve the drought tolerance by mechanisms of water conservation.

β-galactosidase (EC 3.2.1.23) is important in the formation of a medicinal plant Artemisia judaica (al-ba'atharan) aroma. The crude plant extracts of Artemisia judaica were used to characterize the enzyme in the term of pH, temperature, enzyme kinetic and effects of some heavy metals on its activity. The enzyme activity was measured by its ability to hydrolyze the substrate 2-nitrophenyl β-D-galactopyranoside (ONPG). The enzyme activity was reached maximum at 50°C and at pH 6.0. The K m and V max values of the enzyme were 3.6 mM and 1.67 µmol/min, respectively. Uncompetitive inhibition was observed in presence of Hg +2 , Fe +3 and Zn +2 for the enzyme β-galactosidase in the crude extract through the decrease in the K m and V max values. Pb +2 and Cu +2 were found to act as a noncompetitive inhibitors on the enzyme β-galactosidase in the crude extract due to increase in the K m values and decrease in V max values. The study showed that Hg +2 was the most potent inhibitor while Cu +2 exhibited the least inhibition degree on β-galactosidase activity in the Artemisia judaica. These finding indicated that the enzyme β-galactosidase in the crude leaves extract of Artemisia judaica can be used in industrial and medical applications.

The activity and kinetic parameters of the enzyme polyphenol oxidase (PPO) in crude extracts of the fruits of Paradise apple (Pyrus malus L.), cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.), squash (Cucurbita pepo L.), pomegranate rind and seeds (Punica granatum L.), and the leaf of cactus (Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) were investigated. The highest browning intensity was found in P. apple, followed by pomegranate seeds and cucumber fruits. The optimum activity of the enzyme was shown at pH 7.0 for P. apple and cucurbita, but it was found at pH 6.0 for the rind and seeds of the pomegranate. The PPO of cactus leaf and cucumber fruits showed two peaks at pH 4.0 and 7.0. On the other hand, the optimal temperature found for PPO activity in these plants was around 40°C. A strong correlation with value (R) = 0.9485 between the browning intensity and PPO activity in all studied samples was obtained.

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