Plants fumigated with 40ppbv, 80 ppbv and 120ppbv concentrations of O3 exhibited significant reduction in total chlorophyll content, RuBP carboxylase activity and net photosynthesis. The reduction in total chlorophyll activity ranged from 12 to 36% in Bauhinia variegata, 11 to 35% in Ficus infectoria and 3 to 26% in Pongamia pinnata on fumigation with O3, while the RuBP carboxylase activity was...

Background Brazil is a tropical country that shows a great biodiversity and is a rich source of new allergens especially from foods. Exotic tropical fruits and plants are highly consumed in the country and due to globalization these products are being exported worldwide. We have recently described the first manioc allergen Man e 5 that cross-reacts with Hev b 5 from latex. There are more than 7...

Ciguatera is a specific type of food poisoning associated with the ingestion of tropical fish, which, although normally safe for consumption, may at times contain high amounts of ciguatoxin, as well as other chemically related toxins. Widespread in tropical regions where coral reefs are present, ciguatera fish poisoning constitutes a major hindrance for local fishing industries, local economies...

A pharmacological survey of plants from Monteverde, Costa Rica, including 165 species representing 61 families has been carried out. Crude plant extracts have been tested for in-vitro bactericidal and fungicidal activity as well as cytotoxic and anti-herpes activity. Of these, 123 extracts exhibited notable cytotoxicity, 62 showed antibacterial activity, 4 showed antifungal activity, and 8 show...

A survey of medicinal plants used by rural and urban inhabitants of the three cities of the Tropical Atlantic Forest, Region of Vale do Ribeira, State of São Paulo, Brazil was performed by means of 200 interviews with medicinal plant users and extractors and, traditional healers. One hundred fourteen herbal remedies were recorded and the following information reported: Latin, vernacular and Eng...

BACKGROUND, AIMS AND SCOPE Research and development has its own benefits and inconveniences. One of the inconveniences is the generation of enormous quantity of diverse toxic and hazardous wastes and its eventual contamination to soil and groundwater resources. Ethidium bromide (EtBr) is one of the commonly used substances in molecular biology experiments. It is highly mutagenic and moderately ...

—The African diaspora to the Americas was one of plants as well as people. European slavers provisioned their human cargoes with African and other Old World useful plants, which enabled their enslaved work force and free maroons to establish them in their gardens. Africans were additionally familiar with many Asian plants from earlier crop exchanges with the Indian subcontinent. Their efforts e...

Bacterial spores have special significance in foods because they are much more resistant to physical and chemical antimicrobial treatment. Nowadays, there is interest in using natural products such as plant extract for food preservation. In this study, 26 of tropical medicinal plants and spices were screened for their sporicidal activity against the spores of Bacillus cereus. The spores of B. c...