The Phytochemical Constitution of Maltese Medicinal Plants – Propagation, Isolation and Pharmacological Testing

Attard, Everaldo; Attard, Henrietta; Tanti, Antoine; Azzopardi, Mario Sciberras Jurgen; Pace, Victor; Buttigieg, Neville; MangionRandon, Andrew; Rossi, Bernardette; Parnis, Marie Josette; Vella, Michelle Zammit Karin; Serracino‐Inglott, Anthony

doi:10.5772/60094

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 137 publications

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“…5 ) that is commonly used as a nasal decongestant in combination with other anti-inflammatory drugs for the symptomatic treatment of some common pathologies such as the common cold. The alkaloid content is very high in E. fragilis flowers, which contain both alkaloids (1.86%) whereas the seeds essentially contain pseudoephedrine (0.62%) and the branches a little quantity of ephedrine (0.054%), as determined with a specimen of E. fragilis from Malta 130 . Ephedrine and pseudoephedrine can exert immunomodulatory activities.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Ethnobotanical Uses and Pharmacological Activities of Moroccan Ephedra Species

Chroho,

Bailly,

Bouissane

2024

Planta Med

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Ephedra species are among the most popular herbs used in traditional medicine for a long time. The ancient Chinese medical book “Treatise on Febrile Diseases” refers to the classic traditional Chinese medicine prescription Ge Gen decoction, which consists of seven herbs, including an Ephedra species. Ephedra species are utilized all over the world to treat symptoms of the common cold and coughs, and to combat major human diseases, such as asthma, cancers, diabetes, cardiovascular and digestive disorders, and microbial infections. This study aimed at identifying specific Ephedra species used traditionally in Morocco for therapeutic purposes. The plant parts, their preparation process, and the treated pathologies were identified and analyzed. The results revealed five ethnobotanically important species of Ephedra: Ephedra alata Decne, Ephedra altissima Desf., Ephedra distachya L., Ephedra fragilis Desf., and Ephedra nebrodensis Tineo. These species are used traditionally in Morocco for treating people with diabetes, cancer, rheumatism, cold and asthma, hypertension, influenza virus infection, and respiratory ailments. In addition, they are occasionally used as calefacient agents, to regulate weight, or for capillary care. Few studies have underlined the antibacterial and antioxidant activities of some of these Moroccan Ephedra species, but little information is available regarding the natural products at the origin of the bioactivities. Further phytochemical investigations and clinical data are encouraged to better support the use of these plants.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 83%

Ethnobotanical Uses and Pharmacological Activities of Moroccan Ephedra Species

Chroho,

Bailly,

Bouissane

2024

Planta Med

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“…It can be seen that there are two phases in callus growth: when callus is physiologically growing and increasing in size and when metabolites are being produced. This process is typical of metabolite-producing calluses [40]. It can be observed that BAP induces metabolite production but slows callus growth.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Production of Stilbenes in Callus Cultures of the Maltese Indigenous Grapevine Variety, Ġellewża

et al. 2019

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The production of secondary metabolites in tissue culture has been considered as an alternative to the cultivation and harvesting of crops intended for this purpose. The present study was aimed at the growth of callus and production of polyphenolic compound of callus derived from a Maltese indigenous grapevine variety, Ġellewża. Callus was inoculated onto plant growth regulators-enriched Murashige Skoog media (MSm) to determine whether polyphenols are produced in vitro as well as to determine the best combination of plant growth regulators needed for the production of these metabolites. From results obtained, it was observed that the best callus production was obtained by auxin-enriched MSm. In fact, indole acetic acid and indole acetic acid /6-benzyl aminopurine enhanced biomass accumulation (3.04 g and 3.39 g) as opposed to the others (<1.97 g). On the other hand, parameters showing the presence of flavonoids (tonality, 3.80), particularly anthocyanins (24.09 mg/kg) and total polyphenols (1.42 mg/g), were optimum in the presence of cytokinins, particularly 6-benzyl aminopurine. Analysis for single polyphenols revealed a high amount a particular stilbene: polydatin (glucoside of resveratrol). Resveratrol and other typical polyphenols, found in mature berries, were also found in significant quantities, while the other polyphenolic compounds were found in minimal quantities. This is the first study to describe the production and composition of polyphenols in Ġellewża callus cultures. From the results obtained, it can be seen that this grape tissue is an excellent alternative for the production of polyphenols from the stilbene group, which can be upscaled and exploited commercially.

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“…Consequently, the information was translated from Maltese to English, with the help of some Maltese people. More recent studies conducted on the Maltese flora were also considered (Attard & Cuschieri 2009, Attard & Pacioni 2012, Attard et al 2015, Caruana & Attard 2016. The first step was the compilation of the list of plants that were common to both regions omitting the others that occurred in only one of the regions.…”

Section: Data Collectionmentioning

confidence: 99%