Natural products obtained from plants with biocidal activity represent an alternative and useful source in the control of biodeterioration of documentary heritage, without negative environmental and human impacts. In this work, we studied the antimicrobial activity of seven essential oils against microorganisms associated with the biodeterioration of documentary heritage. The essential oils wer...

Anisaldehyde characterized in the seeds of Pimpinella anisum L. (Umbelliferae), also known as aniseed, was found to inhibit the oxidation of L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine (L-DOPA) by mushroom tyrosinase (EC 1.14.18.1) with an ID50 of 43 μg/mL (0.32 mM). The inhibition kinetics analyzed by a Lineweaver-Burk plot established anisaldehyde to be a noncompetitive inhibitor for this oxidation. On the ...

AIM To substantiate the claims of Unani and Arabian traditional medicine practitioners on the gastroprotective potential effect of a popular spice anise, "Pimpinella anisum L." on experimentally-induced gastric ulceration and secretion in rats. METHODS Acute gastric ulceration in rats was produced by various noxious chemicals including 80% ethanol, 0.2 mol/L NaOH, 25% NaCl and indomethacin. A...

In two experiments, we investigated the impact of odor preexposure treatments on the acquisition of an olfactory discrimination in dogs. In the first experiment, four groups of dogs were each given five days' odor-exposure treatment prior to discrimination training. Dogs in the exposure group were exposed to anise extract (S+) for 30 min daily. Dogs in the Pavlovian-relevant pairing group recei...

Olfactory perception, and especially hedonic evaluation of odors, is highly flexible, but some mechanisms involved in this flexibility remain to be elucidated. In the present study we aimed at better understanding how repeated exposure to odors can affect their pleasantness. We tested the hypothesis of an affective habituation to the stimuli, namely a decrease of emotional intensity over repeti...

It is shown that surface tension can cause redistribution of melt in a partially molten medium, in accordance with a non-linear diffusion equation for the melt fraction. The associated diffusivity D depends on the surface energy and is positive (stable) for dihedral angle <60 ø and negative (unstable) for dihedral anise >•0ø•1 In the more likely stable case, D ~ . 10 cm .s is typical •or •antle...

Star anise (Illicium verum Hook) is a spice that closely resembles anise in flavour, obtained from the star-shaped pericarp. It is native to southern China and northern Vietnam and is grown almost exclusively in southern China, Indochina and Japan. The spice was first introduced into Europe in the 17th century. The oil, produced by a process of steam distillation, is substituted for European an...

Scientific evidence suggests that many herbs and spices have medicinal properties that alleviate symptoms or prevent disease. In this study, we examined the chemopreventive effects of the Apiaceae spices, anise, caraway, and celery seeds against 17β-estrogen (E2)-mediated mammary tumorigenesis in an ACI (August-Copenhagen Irish) rat model. Female ACI rats were given either control diet (AIN 93M...

This study was aimed to evaluate the effects of diets containing some hot and cold temperament herb seeds according to Iranian traditional medicine (ITM) on some metabolic parameters in acute (24 h) and sub-acute (7 day) experiments that were performed on rats. For each experiment, effects of diets containing 10% herb seeds in category of hot (anise, fennel, ajowan) and cold (cucumber, watermel...

Intoxications in pediatric age represent a frequent cause of visit to the hospital emergency unit. Herb-made products can be toxic for the infant. The neurotoxic properties of the star anise (Illicium verum) have been widely described, although it is a classic product used to treat the infantile colic. Hepatic failure due to the consumption of anise herb elaborated infusions is presented as an ...