BACKGROUND We investigated the potential of galangal rhizomes to induce cytotoxic and apoptotic effects in the cultured human breast carcinoma cell line, (MCF-7) in compare with the non-malignant (MRC-5) cells. METHODS Both cells were cultured in DMEM medium and treated with galangal rhizomes for three consecutive days. The percentage of apoptotic cells was determined by flow cytometry using ...

Due to some common or similar features (e.g., small leaf, spurless, yellow flower), three Chinese species of the genus Epimedium (Berberidaceae), E. ecalcaratum, E. platypetalum, and E. campanulatum, are controversial based on morphological characteristics. In the present study, the descriptions of morphological characteristics for the three species were revised based on extensive studies and o...

1 2 This study investigated if siltation-associated changes in the sediments are 3 detrimental to seagrasses. We chose Cymodocea rotundata as the test species because it 4 is considered one of the Southeast Asian seagrass species most sensitive to siltation. The 5 approach included the (1) evaluation of the effects of silted sediments on plant growth, 6 evaluation of the effects of in situ sulf...

The rhizomes of Acorus gramineus have frequently been used in traditional medicine mainly for sedation as well as enhancing brain function. In this study, the anti-allergic activity of A. gramineus was investigated. The 70% ethanol extract of the rhizomes of A. gramineus was found to inhibit the allergic response against 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX)-catalyzed leukotriene (LT) production from rat baso...

Panax pseudo-ginseng subsp. pseudo-ginseng has a carrot like root with a small rhizome. It was shown that the saponin composition of roots and rhizomes of this subspecies collected in Tibet and China was extremely poor. From the roots and rhizomes collected in Central Nepal, (specimen-PNct), only a small amount of an oleanolic acid saponin, beta-D-glucopyranosyl-oleanolate (2) was isolated toge...

Endoparasitic nematode populations are usually measured separately for soil and roots without a determination of the quantitative relation between soil and root population components. In this study, Pratylenchus penetrans populations in peppermint soil, roots, and rhizomes were expressed as the density within a standardized core consisting of 500 g dry soil plus the roots and rhizomes contained...

Rhizome extracts of some members of the medicinal Zingiberales are widely used in dietary intake as well as in the traditional system of medicine. Curcumin, the chrome orange-yellow coloring compound present in turmeric rhizomes, has long been known to possess antioxidant property. Crude methanol extracts of the rhizomes of 11 species--Alpinia allughas, A. galanga, Curcuma amada, C. caesia, C. ...

Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex. Benth (Kutki) is an important medicinal plant used in various herbal drug formulations possessing hepatoprotective activity. Herbal drug industries purchase the raw plant material (dried rhizomes) of P. kurroa from the markets by judging the quality mainly on the basis of physical appearance of the rhizomes rather than the contents of active constituents. This study ...

Multi-origin Chinese herbal medicines, with herbs originating from more than one species of plants, is a common phenomenon but an important issue in Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs). In the present study, a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS)-based fatty acid profiling approach to rapidly discriminate multi-origin Chinese medicines in terms of species and medicinal parts was propos...

A. 2004. Ecology and manipulation of bearclover (Chamaebatia foliolosa) in northern and central California: The status of our knowledge. Long the bane of foresters, but of interest to ecologists, bearclover inhabits thousands of acres of forest land in northern and central California. Little quantification of its recovery after disturbance is available because knowledge on the morphology of flo...