Globally disease outbreaks as a result of the consumption of contaminated food and feedstuffs are a regular primary problem. The foremost elements contributing to contamination are microorganisms, particularly fungi, which produce low-molecular weight secondary metabolites, with demonstrated toxic properties that are referred to as mycotoxins. Aflatoxins contaminate agricultural commodities and may cause sickness or fatality in humans and animals. Moreover, poor conditions of storage and a deficiency in regulatory measures in food quality control aggravate the main issue. For that reason, mycotoxin-related illness of nutrition represents a major health hazard for local populations. Government policies should make regulations aiming to avoid the entry of aflatoxins into food stuffs. For consumer safety, control and management strategies should be developed and implemented by regulatory authorities. There is the need for attention from farmers, scientists, government and collaborative minds throughout the country to ensure aflatoxin-free food. The present review is informative not only for health-conscious consumers, but also for relevant authorities with respect to paving the way for future research aiming to fill the existing gaps in our knowledge with regard to mycotoxins and food security. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry.

Introduction: UPLC based metabolite profiling was employed to evaluate the chemical constituents of Memecylon talbotianum Brandis extract and its antibacterial activity was studied in vitro. Methods: Methanol extracts of M. talbotianum was subjected to UPLC-PDA-ESI/HDMS metabolite profiling. The antibacterial activity was determined against human pathogens through disc diffusion, Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), Minimum biofilm inhibitory concentration (MBIC) test as visualized by Alamar blue and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Results: UPLC-PDA-ESI/HDMS analysis identified eighteen metabolites, synapoyl-hexose-formic acid, kaempferol 3-O-feruloylhexosyl rhamnoside, 6-C-arabinosyl-8-C-glucosylapigenin and isorhamnetin-3-O-glycoside-7-O-glycoside as the main constituents for the first time from this plant. A broad spectrum of antibacterial activity against to test human pathogens (MIC=54 mg/ mL; Gram-positive bacteria) causing lysis at 24 h incubation was reported, resulting in nearly a 4 log 10 CFU / mL drop in cell viability at 1.6 X MIC (Gram-positive) for this extract. The extract at 2 fold MIC inhibited the bacterial biofilm formation and at 8 x MIC eradicated biofilms. However, a higher concentration of this extract was identified in this study for a similar effect on Gram-negative bacteria. Conclusion: The presence of these compounds could contribute to their in vitro inhibitory activities against pathogenic bacterial strains indicating its potential as medicinal agents in treatment and prevention of diseases of bacterial origin. INTRODUCTIONOver the last few decades, research into the traditional medicine system has gained importance in the field of herbal medicines. Traditional medicines are generally viewed as eco-friendly, profitable and comparatively safe due to their age-old usage compared to synthetic therapeutics. Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and folk medicine are the chief healthcare systems in Indian society. These medicinal systems mainly depend on natural resources. Hence, medicinal plants have immense economic value due to the market for herbal medicine 1,2 However, there are several drawbacks in the growth of herbal medicine, including a lack of proper guidelines and information on medicinal plants, loss of biodiversity, computerization, certification and over-exploitation. Therefore a detailed study is very much important to authenticate such medicines for proper usage.3,4 Plant based phytochemicals with known anti-microbial, pathogenic (antibiotic) against human pathogens, anti-bacterial activities. 5,6 Several advanced method are available to confirm the mechanism of action and characterize bioactive compounds. Coupling of liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) with atmospheric pressure ionization techniques, i.e., electrospray ionization (ESI) or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI), is one of the methods which has been demonstrated to be a powerful tool for the finger printing of total extracts of medicinal plants. These methods favor identification ...

Diversity and phylogenetic relationship between four closely related Salacia species, i.e., Salacia chinensis, Salacia macrosperma, Salacia fruticosa and Salacia oblonga, collected from the Western Ghats of Karnataka, India, was assessed. Ten each of RAPD and ISSR primers generated a total of 76 and 68 loci, generating polymorphisms of 92.21 and 89.71%, respectively. Maximum likelihood analysis of the ITS sequences revealed three clades. Dendrogram analyses of RAPD and ISSR revealed two and four clusters, respectively. Overall polymorphism revealed by RAPD was 41.45 ± 10%, ISSR was 33.58 ± 6.52%, and ITS was 25.50 ± 17.25%. Molecular variance revealed significant variance within and among the Salacia species. Tajima's D neutrality test and Fu's Fs were negative for all four species, implying presences of rare alleles and population expansion. Comparative study of RAPD, ISSR and ITS for Salacia species has given an insight into the efficiency of each technique in detecting diversity within and among the population sampled in the Western Ghats of Karnataka.

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Objective: Memecylon species is being extensively used in traditional medicine for the treatment of skin disorders and it is proved to possess antidiabetic and anti-inflammatory properties. The present investigation was to study the effect of different solvent extracts of five Memecylon species such as M. umbellatum, M. talbotianum, M. edule, M. malabaricum and M. wightii on antidiabetic and antioxidant effects.Methods: Plant extracts were prepared using soxhlet apparatus using different solvents such as hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and water and obtained extracts were subjected to antidiabetic (α-amylase and α-glucosidase inhibition assays) and antioxidant (2, 2-Diphenyl-2-Picryl Hydrazyl hydrate (DPPH), 2,2-Azino-bis (3-ethyl benzothiazoline-6-Sulfonic acid)diammonium salt (ABTS), Superoxide radical scavenging assay (SRSA) and reducing power assays) evaluated at different doses. Results:Methanol extracts of all five Memecylon species exhibited effective antidiabetic and antioxidant properties among them methanol extracts of M. malabaricum and M. talbotianum have highest biological activity. For α-amylase IC50 value for both M. malabaricum and M. talbotianum was found to be 100 and 130 µg/reaction and IC50 value for α-glucosidase was found to be 6.1 and 7.8 µg/reaction respectively. For DPPH the IC50 Conclusion:The results indicate that methanol extracts of M. malabaricum and M. talbotianum possess potent in vitro antidiabetic and antioxidant activities compared to other Memecylon species. value was found to be 190 µg/reaction, for ABTS 31-39 µg/reaction, for SRSA 950-1200 µg/reaction and for reducing power assay 420-490 µg/reaction respectively.