Lesser Periwinkle (Vinca minor L.), a member of Apocynaceae, is not only an ornamental plant with lilac-blue flowers, but also a medical plant producing an important alkaloid, vincamine, found in the leaves which shows a pronounced cerebrovasodilatory and neuroprotective activity. This plant is native to northern Spain, western France, central and southern Europe, and Caucasus. It has been rece...

The effects of natural, overwintering conditions on photosystem I and photosystem II activity were examined in isolated thylakoids of periwinkle (Vinca minor L.), an endemic, cold-tolerant, herbaceous evergreen. DCMU-Insensitive photosystem I activity (ascorbate/dichlorophenolindophenol --> methylviologen) exhibited a twofold increase in light-saturated rates upon exposure to low temperature an...

The first aim of this study is to evaluate the in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oil and two extracts of Saharan myrtle: Myrtus nivellei Batt & Trab. For this purpose, paper disc-diffusion method and micro-dilution test were used. As far as the antimicrobial activity is concerned the essential oil exhibited higher ones against S. epidermidis (MIC=0.28mg/ml), S. typhi (MIC=0.56mg/...

Both surface texture and littorinid grazing are known to influence the establishment of many shallow-water benthic hard-bottom communities. However, the effects of these factors and their interactions have not yet been investigated in a quantifiable manner. This investigation aims to assess the interactive effect of both factors in a strictly standardized manner. Natural recruitment by diatoms,...

Description Vinpocetine (vinpocetine-ethyl apovincaminate) was synthesized in the late 1960s from the alkaloid vincamine, extracted from the leaf of the lesser periwinkle plant (Vinca minor). Vinpocetine was made available under the trade name Cavinton in 1978 and has since been used widely in Japan, Hungary, Germany, Poland, and Russia for the treatment of cerebrovascular-related pathologies. ...