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Curcuma caesia Roxb. (Zingiberaceae), known as black turmeric in English, is a perennial herb found throughout the Himalayan region, North-East and Central India. The plant has been traditionally used in India for several medicinal purposes. Present study was carried out to evaluate the methanol extract of C. caesia (MECC) rhizome for some in vitro antioxidant studies as because we know that many diseases are associated with reactive oxygen species (ROS) and reactive nitrogen species (RNS). Effect of MECC on ROS and RNS were evaluated in different in vitro methods like 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazil radical, hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anions, nitric oxide, hydrogen peroxide, peroxynitrite and hypochlorous acid. Lipid peroxidation, total phenolic content was also measured by standard assay method. The extract showed significant antioxidant activities in a dose dependent manner. The IC 50 values for scavenging of free radicals were 94.03±0.67 μg/ml, 155.59±3.03 μg/ml, 68.10±1.24 μg/ml, 21.07±1.78 μg/ml, 260.56±12.65 μg/ml and 33.33±0.52 μg/ml for DPPH, nitric oxide, superoxide, hydroxyl, peroxynitrite and hypochlorous acid respectively. Reductive ability of the extract was also tested where dose dependent reducing capability was observed. The rhizome extract contains 677.7 μg of phenolic compound in 10 mg of the extract which is accounted for its free radical as well as antioxidant activity. From the above study it is concluded that the methanol extract of C. caesia rhizome is a potential source of natural antioxidant.

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A water-mediated and catalyst-free simple protocol for easily accessing a huge array of pharmaceutically interesting and diversely functionalized 5-alkyl/aryl/heteroaryl-10-alkyl/aryl-2,8-dioxo/dithioxo-9,10-dihydropyrido[2,3d:6,5-d′]dipyrimidine-4,6(1H,3H,5H,7H)-dione derivatives 4 (4-1−4-42) and 5,5′-(1,4-phenylene)bis(10-alkyl/aryl-2,8dioxo/dithioxo-9,10-dihydropyrido[2,3-d:6,5-d′]dipyrimidine-4,6(1H,3H,5H,7H)-dione) 4′ (4′-1−4′-8) has been developed based on a one-pot multicomponent reaction between barbituric/N,N-dimethylbarbituric/2-thiobarbituric acids (1), substituted amines (2), and aldehydes (3) under ambient conditions. The salient features of this protocol are the clean reaction profile, use of no added catalyst, water as reaction media, mild reaction conditions at room temperature, energyefficiency, easy isolation of products, no need of column chromatographic purification, high atom-economy and low E-factor, good to excellent yields, and reusability of reaction media.

MECC possesses potent antitumor activity that may be due to its direct cytotoxic effect or antioxidant properties. Further research is in progress to find out the active principle(s) of MECC for its antitumor activity.

Curcuma caesia Roxb. (Zingiberaceae), called black turmeric in English, is a perennial herb found throughout the Himalayan region, North-East and Central India. The plant has been traditionally used in India for several medicinal purposes. The present study was carried out to evaluate the methanol extract of C. caesia rhizome (MECC) for some neuropharmacological activities in experimental animal models. MECC (at 50 and 100 mg/kg body weight) was evaluated for analgesic activity by acetic acid-induced writhing and tail flick tests. Locomotor activity was measured by means of an actophotometer. Anticonvulsant property was assessed against pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsion in mice and muscle relaxant effect was evaluated by using rota-rod apparatus. The results of the present study revealed remarkable analgesic, locomotor depressant, anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant effects of C. caesia rhizome, demonstrating depressant action on the central nervous system. The outcome of present study can validate certain traditional uses of C. caesia rhizome in India.

Development of a visible light-induced and singlet oxygen-mediated green protocol has been accomplished for the first time for the photochemical transformation of 4-hydroxy-α-benzopyrones to a new series of biorelevant 2-hydroxy-3-oxo-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-2-carboxamides and 2-hydroxy-3-oxo-2,3-dihydrobenzofuran-2-carboxylates using rose bengal as a triplet photosensitizer at ambient temperature. Metal-free one-pot synthesis, broader substrate scope, good-to-excellent yields, use of cost-effective and eco-friendly starting materials and photosensitizer, and energy efficiency are the salient features of this newly developed method.