Satheesh George

Chromatographic Studies and in vitro Screening for Acetyl Cholinesterase Inhibition and Antioxidant Activity of three Acacia Species from South India

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the radical scavenging and anti AChE activity of three Acacia species collected from south India. Ethanolic extracts of three Acacia species collected from South India were analyzed for their activity towards acetylcholinestrase (AChE) enzyme and their antioxidant activity. The antioxidant activity was evaluated using different in vitro techniques such as DPPH assay, NO quenching assay and ABTS assay. Anti-acetylcholinestrase activity was measured using Ellman;s method. The chemical profiling was done using HPLC. Most of the plant materials analyzed showed some inhibitory activity towards acetyl cholinesterase. Acacia catechu and Acacia leucophloea extracts were generally less potent. Acacia nilotica showed comparatively significant AChE activity. Acacia nilotica have good inhibitory properties and exhibited a dose dependent relationship (1 mgml−1, 27.65 %.; 5 mgml−1, 32.44 %; 15 mgml−1, 47.87%; 25 mgml−1 63.28 %). A. nilotica showed the highest NO quenching capacity (48.12 %), followed by A.catechu (44.1 %) and Acacia leucophloea (40.32 %) per 10 µg extract. The total antioxidant potential was found to be highest in Acacia nilotica (0.46 mmol/L TEAC/mg of extract). All the extracts had higher total antioxidant capacity in comparison of catechin. Higher values of AChE inhibitory activity and antioxidant activity were found for Acacia nilotica.

In Vitro Propagation of Two Tuberous Medicinal Plants: Holostemma ada-kodien and Ipomoea mauritiana

Medicinal plants are sources of important therapeutic aid for healing human diseases. The depletion of the wild resources has prompted conservation, propagation, and enhancement of resources for medicinal plants. Micropropagation offers an alternate method to propagate and improve medicinal plants through selection of high-yield lines and their efficient cloning. This chapter describes cost effective and efficient protocols that have been successfully applied for the micropropagation and large-scale production of quality planting material in two important tuberous medicinal plants viz., Holostemma ada-kodien Schult. and Ipomoea mauritiana Jacq.

Characterization of Phenolic Compounds in Fruit Extracts of Three Medicinal Plants Using Liquid Chromatography-Negative Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Abstract The characterization of phenolics was done in fruits of three medicinal plants such as Aegle marmelos, Terminalia chebula and Garcinia gummi-gutta using liquid chromatography coupled with Quadra pole mass spectroscopy in ESI negative mode. The accurate mass data for the molecular ions were processed using the software Mass Hunter work station (Agilent Technologies), which provided a list of possible elemental formulas generated using the Molecular featured extraction editor. The subsequent structural characterization was carried out by MS/MS fragmentation. The total phenolics of each sample were also estimated spectrophotometrically using Folin Ciocalteu method.

Preliminary Phytochemical and Antimicrobial Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Pittosporum viridulum Stem Bark

The ethanolic extract of Pittosporum viridulum stem bark was screened for antibacterial activity using disc diffusion method. The phytochemical analysis of the extract was also carried out to detect total phenolic content and total flavonoids. The ethanolic extract of P. viridulum showed a good antimicrobial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Proteus mirabilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae. Antibiotic chloramphenicol is used as positive control. Maximum zone of growth inhibition was observed against Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with an inhibition zone of 18 mm for ethanol extract. The extract used for screening was prepared by dissolving 1 and 2 mg/100 μl DMSO. Phytochemical screening of Pittosporum viridulum showed the presence of carbohydrates, glycosides, amino acids, fixed oils and fats, flavonoids, saponins and phenol.

A new variety of Crotalaria ramosissima (Fabaceae) from Tamil Nadu, India

Abstract Objective A new variety of Crotalaria ramosissima is described from the Western Ghats of India. Crotalaria ramosissima Roxb. var. kanuvayensis Binu T., K. M. Prabhu et A. Rajendran (Fabaceae) from Kanuvai hills, Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu. Methods Compare this species with available varieties of Crotalaria and cross checked with previous literature for authetification of this taxa. Results The current paper provides a detailed description of the new taxa along with illustrations, colour plates and other relevant notes. Conclusions The present study concluded that this taxa is new to science from the Southern Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India.

Gymnostachyum warrieranum (Acanthaceae), a new species from the Western Ghats of India, based on morphological and molecular data

SummaryA new species of Gymnostachyum Nees (Acanthaceae), G. warrieranum K. M. P. Kumar, Balach. & V. B. Sreek. from the Western Ghats of India is described and illustrated. IUCN status, distribution, phenetic relationships, phenology and plastid genome variation are discussed and a key to the Gymnostachyum species distributed in Kerala is also provided for easy identification.

Liquid chromatography– electro spray ionization mass spectroscopic analysis of Acacia species

A rapid liquid chromatography electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) with positive ion detection method was developed and validated to determine major compounds present in the active fractions of three Acacia species. Different extracts of these three Acacia species were screened for their free radical scavenging activity. The total phenolic content was also determined in all the fractions of three species and identified methanolic fraction as active against free radicals. LC-MS analysis was carried out on methanolic fractions and identified masses of major compounds present.