Mango ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb.) is a unique spice having morphological resemblance with ginger but imparts a raw mango flavour. The main use of mango ginger rhizome is in the manufacture of pickles and culinary preparations. Ayurveda and Unani medicinal systems have given much importance to mango ginger as an appetizer, alexteric, antipyretic, aphrodisiac, diuretic, emollient, expectorant and laxative and to cure biliousness, itching, skin diseases, bronchitis, asthma, hiccough and inflammation due to injuries. The biological activities of mango ginger include antioxidant activity, antibacterial activity, antifungal activity, anti-inflammatory activity, platelet aggregation inhibitory activity, cytotoxicity, antiallergic activity, hypotriglyceridemic activity, brine-shrimp lethal activity, enterokinase inhibitory activity, CNS depressant and analgesic activity. The major chemical components include starch, phenolic acids, volatile oils, curcuminoids and terpenoids like difurocumenonol, amadannulen and amadaldehyde. This article brings to light the major active components present in C. amada along with their biological activities that may be important from the pharmacological point of view.

Sapota (Achras sapota Linn.) belongs to the family Sapotaceae and is assigned for various properties in the traditional system of Indian medicine. For the first time, nutritional quality and antioxidant activity of sapota juice with reference to its chemical composition have been investigated employing various well‐established in vitro methods. Chemical composition analysis of sapota juice revealed that it is one of the rich sources of sugars, proteins, ascorbic acid, phenolics, carotenoids and minerals like iron, copper, zinc, calcium and potassium. Apart from the nutritional components just given, sapota juice showed potential antioxidant activity against 1,1‐diphenyl‐2‐picrylhydrazyl free radicals and superoxide radicals. Sapota juice potentially inhibited the free radical‐mediated lipid peroxidation in a liposome model system. Total reducing‐power assay revealed the potential reducing power of sapota juice. The multiple radical‐scavenging potential of sapota juice was found to be due to its nutraceutical components, viz., phenolics, carotenoids and ascorbic acid.

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Aim:  The aim of the present work was to purify and characterize potential natural antibacterial compound from mango ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb.) rhizome. Methods and Results:  The mango ginger rhizome powder was sequentially extracted and screened for antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion method and broth dilution method. Nonpolar extracts of mango ginger showed high antibacterial activity against gram‐positive bacteria with low minimum inhibitory concentration (60–180 ppm). Among five extracts of mango ginger, the chloroform extract demonstrated highest antibacterial activity. Antibacterial activity‐guided fractionation of the chloroform extract by repeated silica gel column chromatography yielded pure compound. The purified antibacterial compound was analysed by UV, IR, LC‐MS and 2D‐HMQCT NMR spectra and was identified as a difurocumenonol, a novel compound not reported previously. Conclusions:  Mango ginger extracts and isolated difurocumenonol demonstrated high antibacterial activity against gram‐negative and gram‐positive bacteria. Significance and Impact of the Study:  A novel and natural antibacterial compound as well as mango ginger extracts can be used as food preservative to control the growth of food‐borne pathogens and as a source of mango flavour.

Mango ginger (Curcuma amada Roxb.) rhizome is used in the manufacture of pickles and other food preparations due to its unique raw mango flavour. The chloroform extract of mango ginger rhizome was subjected to antibacterial activity-guided purification by repeated silica gel column chromatography to obtain a pure compound. The structure of the isolated compound was deduced by analysing UV, IR, LC-MS and 2D-HMQCT NMR spectral data, and named it as amadaldehyde, a novel compound. It exhibited a wide range of antibacterial activity with potential bactericidal activity against several bacteria. The purified compound also exhibited antioxidant activity, cytotoxicity and platelet aggregation inhibitory activities.

IntroductionLeaf extract of Mentha arvensis or mint plant was used as reducing agent for the synthesis of green silver nanoparticles (GSNPs) as a cost-effective, eco-friendly process compared to that of chemical synthesis. The existence of nanoparticles was characterized by ultraviolet–visible spectrophotometry, dynamic light scattering, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray analysis, atomic-force microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses, which ascertained the formation of spherical GSNPs with a size range of 3–9 nm. Anticancer activities against breast cancer cell lines (MCF7 and MDA-MB-231) were studied and compared with those of chemically synthesized (sodium borohydride [NaBH4]-mediated) silver nanoparticles (CSNPs).Materials and methodsCell survival of nanoparticle-treated and untreated cells was studied by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Cell-cycle analyses were carried out using fluorescence-activated cell sorting. Cell morphology was observed by fluorescence microscopy. Expression patterns of PARP1, P53, P21, Bcl2, Bax and cleaved caspase 9 as well as caspase 3 proteins in treated and untreated MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells were studied by Western blot method.ResultsMTT assay results showed that Mentha arvensis-mediated GSNPs exhibited significant cytotoxicity toward breast cancer cells (MCF7 and MDA-MB-231), which were at par with that of CSNPs. Cell cycle analyses of MCF7 cells revealed a significant increase in sub-G1 cell population, indicating cytotoxicity of GSNPs. On the other hand, human peripheral blood lymphocytes showed significantly less cytotoxicity compared with MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells when treated with the same dose. Expression patterns of proteins suggested that GSNPs triggered caspase 9-dependent cell death in both cell lines. The Ames test showed that GSNPs were nonmutagenic in nature.ConclusionGSNPs synthesized using Mentha arvensis may be considered as a promising anticancer agent in breast cancer therapy. They are less toxic and nonmutagenic and mediate caspase 9-dependent apoptosis in MCF7 and MDA-MB-231 cells.

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