Hexane, the common solvent for extraction of edible oils from seeds is no more considered safe due to the presence of solvent in oil and also solvent vapour, a hazardous air pollutant. We have carried out the experiments with bahera (Terminalia bellerica Roxb) and flax seed (Linum usitatissimum ) oil as these oils are highly used in food for their nutraceutical values. The extraction of edible ...

Medicinal plants produce several antibacterial compounds. These plants are well known for their medicinal value and are widely used in community for the treatment of various diseases. In this study 5 different medicinal plants (Azadirachta indica, Ficus religiosa, Acacia nilotica, Linum usitatissimum and Rosa damascene), traditionally used in medicine, were subjected to preliminary screening fo...

A microsomal fraction from flax hypocotyls (Linum usitatissimum L) showed a methylation ability from S-adenosyl-methionine on to the cell wall polysaccharides. Two kinds of methylation were found: (i) a methyl esterification of uronic acids in the oxalate extracts and (ii) an O-methylation of the hydroxyl groups in the NaOH extracts. The methyltransferase study showed a rapid decrease of the me...

The anti-ulcer activity of the oil and mucilage obtained from flaxseed (Linum usitatissimum) was evaluated in a rat model of ethanol-induced gastric ulcer. Our results show that pretreatment of rats with flaxseed oil and flaxseed mucilage significantly reduced the number and length of gastric ulcers induced by ethanol. Flaxseed oil was more effective than flaxseed mucilage in reducing the numbe...

DNA coding for the 18S and 25S rRNAs in flax (Linum usitatissimum) has been purified and is arranged in tandem arrays with a repeat length of 8.6 kb. There is no detectable variation in the size of this repeat unit. Single repeat units have been cloned in the plasmid pAT 153. The coding sequences for the 25S, 18s and 5.85 rRNAs have been localised by hybridisation. The cloned rDNA has been used...

INTRODUCTION Lignans and flavonoids are widely distributed phenolics in the plant kingdom. Aryltetralin type lignans (podophyllotoxin derivatives) as the major secondary metabolites of Linum species play an important role in the production of chemotherapy drugs. In the present study, lignans and flavonoid glycosides from aerial parts of Linum mucronatum subsp. orientale were isolated and identi...