Acute and sub-acute toxicological evaluation of the alcoholic leaf and root extracts of Clerodendrum infortunatum L.

Leaf and root extracts of Clerodendrum infortunatum L. have been reported to show anthelmintic efficacy on a cestode parasite Raillietina tetragona. Its leaf showed no toxicity at 1000 mg/kg body weight but root toxicity study was not known. Therefore, our study is to test both leaf and root extracts at 2000 and 3000 mg/kg body weight concentration given orally for 15 days in four groups of Swiss albino mice, keeping another set as control (without plant extract). Weight and behaviour of mice were recorded daily. Feeding, movement pattern were normal in all treatments as that of control. Though body weight increase, there was no change in the relative organ weight. Biochemical and haematological studies revealed no significant change from control and no alteration in histopathological study of liver and kidney from that of control. The plant extracts thus shown to be safe for consumption.     

Generic leaves

A remarkable theorem of E. Ghys asserts that, for any harmonic measure on a compact, foliated metric space, -almost every leaf has 0, 1, 2 or a Cantor set of ends. In this paper, analogous results are proven for topologically almost all (i.e., residual families of) leaves. More precisely, if some leaf is totally recurrent, a residual family of leaves is totally recurrent with 1, 2 or a Cantor set of ends. A "local" version of this theorem asserts that, in general, topologically almost all leaves have 0, 1, 2 or a Cantor set of dense ends. Received: October 1, 1997     

Microencapsulation of cinnamon leaf (Cinnamomum zeylanicum) and garlic (Allium sativum) oils in β-cyclodextrin

Cinnamon leaf (CLO) and garlic oils (GO) are good antimicrobials, however, their volatility complicates their application as food preservatives. Hence, microencapsulation of CLO and GO with β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) was studied at 4:96, 8:92, 12:88, and 16:84 (oil:β-CD) percent weight ratios. Microcapsule characterization included gas chromatography analysis, moisture sorption–desorption isotherms, infrared spectroscopy (IR), and antifungal activity against Alternaria alternata. Major oil constituents were eugenol for CLO and allyl disulfide for GO. The 16:84 ratio (CLO:β-CD) showed the highest eugenol content; the allyl disulfide content was higher, but not significantly different (P > 0.05) for the 12:88 and 16:84 ratios. Microcapsules showed lower moisture sorption than β-CD, although during water desorption there were no difference between them. Hydrogen bonds were detected between oil constituents and β-CD by IR spectroscopy. CLO:β-CD and GO:β-CD microcapsules displayed good antifungal activity against Alternaria alternata. Therefore, CLO and GO microcapsules can have important applications in the food industry as stable natural antimicrobial compound systems.     

Selective recovery of rosmarinic and carnosic acids from rosemary leaves under ultrasound- and microwave-assisted extraction procedures

Ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE) and microwave-assisted extraction (MAE) are currently amongst the foremost green techniques for accelerating extraction processes. Several methods for the efficient recovery of the phenolic compounds from rosemary leaves have so far been proposed, but little data are available on the use of UAE and MAE. The aim of this work is to investigate the efficiency and selectivity of these techniques in recovering fractions of specific phenolic compounds from dried rosemary leaves using solvents that are suitable for food applications. UAE has been carried out by means of a probe system equipped with a titanium horn working at 19.5 kHz (140 W). MAE has been performed in a closed multimode reactor under N₂ (20 bar) at 100 °C. All obtained extracts were dissolved in a defined solvent volume and the solutions were directly analyzed using a combination of the HPLC-DAD-MS and TOF techniques. MAE and UAE in ethanol and acetone dramatically increased phenol yield (more than three times) as compared to more traditional solid–liquid extraction processes. In terms of selectivity, remarkably high rosmarinic acid content (6.8% of the dried extract) was obtained in ethanol under ultrasound (US). Even more impressive is the selectivity of UAE in n-hexane which gave the highest carnosic acid content, up to 13% of the dried extract. In conclusion, non-conventional energy sources and, in particular, high-intensity US have proven themselves to be rapid, efficient, and selective techniques for rosemary leaf extraction and provide fractions with high rosmarinic and carnosic acid contents.     

Effective extraction and simultaneous determination of Sudan dyes from tomato sauce and chili‐containing foods using magnetite/reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles coupled with high‐performance liquid chromatography

A simple, effective, and robust magnetic solid‐phase extraction method was developed using magnetite/reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles as the adsorbent for the simultaneous determination of Sudan dyes (I, II, III, and IV) in foodstuffs. The magnetite/reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles were characterized by X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and vibrating sample magnetometry. The extraction parameters including extraction time, elution solution, and elution time and volume were investigated in detail. Such magnetite/reduced graphene oxide nanoparticles based magnetic solid‐phase extraction in combination with high‐performance liquid chromatography and variable wavelength detection gave the detection limits of 3–6 μg/kg for Sudan I–IV in chili sauce, tomato sauce, chili powder, and chili flake samples. The recoveries were 79.6–108% at three spiked levels with the intra‐ and inter‐day relative standard deviations of 1.2–8.6 and 4.5–9.6%, respectively. The feasibility was further performed by a comparison with commercial alumina‐N. This method is suitable for the routine analysis of Sudan dyes due to its sensitivity, simplicity, and low cost.     

Changes of antioxidative enzymes and cell membrane osmosis in tomato colonized by arbuscular Mycorrhizae under NaCl stress

Salinity toxicity is a worldwide agricultural and eco-environmental problem. Many literatures show that arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) can enhance salt tolerance of many plants and some physiological changes occurred in AM symbiosis under salt stress. However, the role of ROS-scavenging enzymes in AM tomato is still unknown in continuous salt stress. This study investigated the effect of Glomus mosseae on tomato growth, cell membrane osmosis and examined the antioxidants (superoxide-dismutase, SOD; catalase, CAT; ascorbate peroxidase, APX; peroxidase, POD) responses in roots of mycorrhizal tomato and control under different NaCl stress for 40 days in potted culture. NaCl solution (0, 0.5 and 1%) was added to organic soil in the irrigation water after 45 days inoculated by AMF (Glomus mosseae). (1) AMF inoculation improved tomato growth under salt or saltless condition and reduced cell membrane osmosis, MDA (malonaldehyde) content in salinity. So the salt tolerance of tomato was enhanced by AMF; (2) SOD, APX and POD activity in roots of AM symbiosis were significantly higher than corresponding non-AM plants in salinity or saltless condition. However, CAT activity was transiently induced by AMF and then suppressed to a level similar with non-AM seedlings; (3) higher salinity (1% level) and long stress time suppressed the effect of AMF on SOD, APX, POD and CAT activity; (4) this research suggested that the enhanced salt tolerance in AM symbiosis was mainly related with the elevated SOD, POD and APX activity by AMF which degraded more reactive oxygen species and so alleviated the cell membrane damages under salt stress. Whereas, the elevated SOD, POD and APX activity due to AMF depended on salinity environment.     

莲(Nelumbo nucifera)叶片结构的光镜和扫描电镜的观察

本文报道了莲的浮叶和立叶两种不同生态型叶的表面特征及解剖结构。莲的气孔器主要分布在上表皮,下表皮的则为零星分布。莲的气孔器类型多,表面结构复杂,有形态相近的六种类型,但孔口普遍呈开放状态。集中在莲鼻位置及散生在叶缘的排水器,其水孔形状与气孔器的孔口极为类似,彼     

三七叶甙制备抗癌活性成分20(R)-人参皂甙-Rh2和人参皂甙Rg3

人参皂甙-Rh2(ginsenoside Rh2)和Rg3是从人参中分离得到的具有抗癌活性的四环三萜类原人参二醇型低糖链皂甙单体。其中,以人参皂甙为主要成分的抗癌新药Rg3参—胶囊已获国家药品监督管理局颁发的中药一类新药证书。皂甙类成分要从植物中分离困难。为了得到某些活性     

Chemical and Mechanical Characterization of Licorice Root and Palm Leaf Waste Incorporated into Poly(urethane-acrylate) (PUA)

A poly(urethane-acrylate) polymer (PUA) was synthesized, and a sufficiently high molecular weight starting from urethane-acrylate oligomer (UAO) was obtained. PUA was then loaded with two types of powdered ligno-cellulosic waste, namely from licorice root and palm leaf, in amounts of 1, 5 and 10%, and the obtained composites were chemically and mechanically characterized. FTIR analysis of final PUA synthesized used for the composite production confirmed the new bonds formed during the polymerization process. The degradation temperatures of the two types of waste used were in line with what observed in most common natural fibers with an onset at 270 °C for licorice waste, and at 290 °C for palm leaf one. The former was more abundant in cellulose (44% vs. 12% lignin), whilst the latter was richer in lignin (30% vs. 26% cellulose). In the composites, only a limited reduction of degradation temperature was observed for palm leaf waste addition and some dispersion issues are observed for licorice root, leading to fluctuating results. Tensile performance of the composites indicates some reduction with respect to the pure polymer in terms of tensile strength, though stabilizing between data with 5 and 10% filler. In contrast, Shore A hardness of both composites slightly increases with higher filler content, while in stiffness-driven applications licorice-based composites showed potential due to an increase up to 50% compared to neat PUA. In general terms, the fracture surfaces tend to become rougher with filler introduction, which indicates the need for optimizing interfacial adhesion.     

基于优化面积光谱指数的玉米叶片叶绿素值估测

综合使用光谱技术对作物养分进行实时、有效诊断,有助于作物的精准管理、保障产量和减少环境污染,提高肥料利用率,并且为定量估测作物生化组分状况提供了一种新的途径.光谱指数是进行作物叶片叶绿素实时估测的重要指标,然而由于受到环境条件及内在生化成分的影响,估测结果不尽满意.为了进一步提高光谱指数在估测作物叶片叶绿素含量时的抗干...