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Located between the coast and the desert, the Moroccan Middle Atlas Mountains are strongly affected by these two climatic averages, resulting in very complex and diverse biodiversity patterns in Orthoptera fauna. This instability in locusts (Orthoptera, Acrididae), is mainly due to the ambiguity of definitions for each level of classification above the species level. These changes necessitate a review of the literature on the Moroccan Middle Atlas locust orthopterans. This review focuses on the suborder Caelifera, encountered at five stations in the Middle Atlas, and includes the three families of Acridoîdea, of which the Acrididae is the most diversified. A comparative reading of the various taxa frequently met with and their recent systematic controversies are reviewed herein.

Background: Euphorbia is one of the plants most used by herbalists and therapists in Morocco. Objectives: The aerial part of two plant samples (Euphorbia resinifera and Euphorbia officinarum) collected in Morocco was examined for the solvent effect, extraction time, and plant concentration in order to determine the best extraction conditions. Materials and Methods: To achieve this goal, a response surface methodology (RSM) using a full three-level factorial design was used to optimize the conditions for the extraction of antioxidants and a-glucosidase inhibitors. Temperature, time, and plant-to-solvent ratio (PSR) and their linear and quadratic interactions on TPC (total phenol concentration), TFC (total flavonoid concentration), DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) trapping activity, and a-glucosidase inhibiting activities were studied. Results: According to desirability functions, the optimum operating conditions to achieve a higher extraction yield of phenols and higher antioxidant and anti-diabetic activity were found by using extraction during 60 min at 30 degrees C using a PSR of 20 mg/mL, whereas a longer extraction time (270 min) was needed for E. resinifera and a higher extraction temperature (50 degrees C), with a lower PSR (10 mg/mL) for E. officinarum. Conclusion: In order to find the best conditions to extract secondary metabolites with biological activity and application in phytotherapy, the appropriate solvent generally used by populations, water in this case, should be used, but the best extraction conditions have to be found in order to enhance the pharmacological actions. info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

Natural plant extracts contain a variety of phenolic contents, which are associated to various biological activities. In this study, we evaluated the antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of organic (ethanol and methanol) and aqueous extracts prepared from Ziziphus lotus L seeds. The total polyphenol content of the extracts was determined using the Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, it was in the range of 50.67 ± 1.44 (Ethanolic Extract), 39.32 ± 1.44 (Methanolic Extract) and 23.54 ± 0,44 (Aqueous Extract) mg gallic acid equivalent/g DW. The content in flavonoids was estimated at 69.19 ± 0.10 (Ethanolic Extract), 53.13 ± 0.55 (Methanolic Extract) and 9.63 ± 0.88 (Aqueous Extract) mg equivalent quercitin/g DW. The condensed tannin assay revealed that the methanol extract was rich on tannin (9.12 ± 1.07 mg/g) relatively to the ethanol and aqueous extracts (4.97 ± 0.95 and 1, 88 ± 0.47 mg/g respectively). The antioxidant activity was evaluated in vitro by DPPH and phosphomolydbate (total antioxidant capacity). The results reveal that the three extracts have a capacity to trap the DPPH radical with IC50 1.33 ± 0.01, 1.32 ± 0.09 and 3.11 ± 0.05 mg/ml for the methanol, ethanol and aqueous extract respectively. This antioxidant activity is confirmed by the phosphomolybdate test. The antimicrobial activity of the studied extracts was evaluated using the broth microdilution, on five microbial strains: Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Enterococcus faecalis and Candida tropicalis. Results revealed an activity on the four bacterial strains tested. While the fungal strain (Candida tropicalis) showed an amount of resistance to the tested extracts. All this results could justify the use of Ziziphus lotus in the treatment of various infections in traditional environments.