The aqueous extracts of sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum L.), tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.), fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Miller), olive (Olea europaea L.), sage (Salvia officinalis L.), thyme (Thymus vulgaris L.), wild thyme (T. serpyllum L.), tea (Camellia sinensis (L.) Kuntze), and verbena (Verbena officinalis L.) were investigated for polyphenol, tannins, antocyanins and flavonoids. Among ...

Bioassay-guided fractionation of a chloroform extract of Valeriana wallichii (V. wallichii) rhizomes lead to the isolation and identification of caffeic acid bornyl ester (1) as the active component against Leishmania major (L. major) promastigotes (IC50 = 48.8 µM). To investigate the structure-activity relationship (SAR), a library of compounds based on 1 was synthesized and tested in vitro ag...

Valeriana officinalis (valerian), as a nutraceutical herb, is widely used for its sedative and hypnotic properties. It is known that C15 sesquiterpenoid valerenic acid (VA) is active ingredient responsible for pharmacological effects of V. officinalis. To evaluate the effect of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) concentrations (50 and 100 µM) in the modulation of expression patterns of the genes involved ...

In the present study, we report the finding of high concentrations of D-Asp (D-aspartate) in the retina of the cephalopods Sepia officinalis, Loligo vulgaris and Octopus vulgaris. D-Asp increases in concentration in the retina and optic lobes as the animal develops. In neonatal S. officinalis, the concentration of D-Asp in the retina is 1.8+/-0.2 micromol/g of tissue, and in the optic lobes it ...

Valeriana wallichii, an Indian medicinal plant, has been on trial for its role in stress disorders in hospital based clinical set-up. Hamilton’s Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS) was used and thorough clinical investigations were carried out to screen the subjects. Thirty-three subjects (20 male and 13 female; average age 34.2 years) were medicated with the plant extract in a fixed dose reg...

We evaluated the sleep enhancement activity of the medicinal herbs valerian (Valeriana officinalis), jujube (Ziziphus jujube), lotus seed (Nelumbo nucifera), Gastrodia elata, Polygonatum sibiricum, and baekbokryung (Poria cocos), which can relieve insomnia in a Drosophila model. Locomotor activity was measured in the Drosophila model to evaluate the sleep activity of Korean medicinal herbs trad...

A study was carried out to elaborate the medicinal plant diversity at higher altitude of District Shangla, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. The district is located between 33°-31' to 34°-08' North latitudes and 72°-33' to 73°-01' East longitude. Floristically the area comes under SinoJapanese region. The study revealed that there were 25 medicinal plant species belonging to 21 families. Among thes...

BACKGROUND The use of food supplements containing botanicals is increasing in European markets. Although intended to maintain the health status, several cases of adverse effects to Plant Food Supplements (PFS) have been described. OBJECTIVES To describe the self-reported adverse effects collected during the European PlantLIBRA PFS Consumer Survey 2011-2012, with a critical evaluation of the p...