Irfan-ur-Rauf Tak

Phytochemical studies on the extract and essential oils of Artemisia dracunculus L. (Tarragon)

Artemisia dracunculus L. (Tarragon) is a species of flowering plant within the family Asteraceae, commonly used as a dietary seasoning. During the present study, the plant was collected from Indian Institute of Integrative Medicines (IIIM Srinagar). Air dried shoots (room temperature 25-35°C) were used to extract essential oil using Clevenger type apparatus for 3 h and analyzed. Thirty-four (34) compounds were identified using gas chromatography- flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Major constituents of the essential oil were trans-Anethole (28.06%), Z-β-ocimene (15.79%), a- Terpenolene (10.12%), Elemecin (10.08%), 1, 8 cineole (7.71%) and a-copaene (2.78%), etc. Comparing our results with those of other Artemisia species already published in the literature revealed considerable qualitative and quantitative similarity of the major constituents of the essential oils. As trans-Anethole is the major constituent, this chemo type may be useful for industrial exploitation as well as chemotaxonomic characterization. Key words: Artemisia dracunculus, Terpenolene, Z-β-ocimene, trans-Anethole.

Endoparasites of some economically important food fishes of River Jhelum, Kashmir (India)

During the present study endo-parasitic fauna of fish at different sites of River Jhelum were analysed. Four different species of endoparasites were recovered from Schizothorax species which include Adenoscolex kashmirensis Mehra, 1930, Bothriocephalusacheilognathi Yamaguti, 1934, Echinorhynchus sp., Pomphorhynchus kashmirensis Kaw, 1941, belong to Phylum Platyhelminths and Phylum Acanthocephala. Prevalence and generation time were inversely proportional to each other. Prevalence and mean abundance were highest at Qamarwari. Diversity was more at Tengpora. Cestodes including Adenoscolex kashmirensis and Bothriocephalus acheilognathi were more dominant than Pomphorhynchus kashmirensis and Echinorhynchus sp.