Impatiens saulierea and I. josephia, two new species, are described from the Western Ghats, India. The former is collected from Kakkayam, Kozhikode and the latter from Idukki, Kerala. A detailed description of both taxa along with diagnostic characters between allied species, conservation status, pollen morphology and colour photographs are provided.
The new species Impatiens brittoi (Balsaminaceae) allied to I. herbicola Hook. f., is described from the Idukki biodiversity zone of the Western Ghats of India. Detailed notes on morphology, key diagnostic characters, distribution, pollen morphology, conservation status and colour photographs are provided for the identification of the new species.
The essential oil constituents of rhizomes of Hedychium forrestii var. palaniense were analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A total of 26 constituents comprising 68.20% of the oils were identified. The volatile fraction was characterized by monoterpene hydrocarbons (42.31%), oxygenated monoterpenes (38.46%), sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (15.38%) and oxygenated sesquiterpenes (3.85%). The predominant constituents identified were β-pinene (18.30%), β-linalool (17.80%), 1,8-cineole (12.00%), and 4-terpineol (5.50%). Sesquiterpenoids were present only in negligible quantities. The antibacterial activities of the essential oil was evaluated against ten bacteria and Pseudomonas aeruginosa was the most susceptible organism with a zone of inhibition of 42.16±0.76 mm. Additionally, the essential oil showed promising radical scavenging and electron donating activity.
<p class="Abstract">Essential oils are known for their medicinal value since time immemorial and continue to be of vital importance until the present day. The present study describes the composition, antibacterial and anti-oxidant potential of rhizome oil of <em>Hedychium matthewii</em>. Thirty-five constituents of the oil were identified to account for 82.7%, of which 85.7% was monoterpes and the rest were sesquiterpnes. Most of the major constituents were alcohols and linalool was the prominent one (45.7%). The antibacterial assay showed the bactericidal effect of the essential oil and the most susceptible organism was <em>Streptococcus hemolyticus</em> with a zone of inhibition of 33.8 ± 1.7 mm. The reducing power and nitric oxide scavenging activity of the essential oil was far exceeding the reference compound ascorbic acid and it could be the sign of the potential anti-oxidant power of the oil isolated. The present study also revealed the prospective of <em>H. matthewii</em> as a new natural source of linalool, which has medicinal and various industrial applications.</p>
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