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From the leaves of Sterculia foetida L., one new oleanane-type triterpenoid, named stercufoetin A (1) together with four known ones, vergatic acid (2), β-amyrin (3), oleanolic acid (4) and maslinic acid (5) were purified by diversely chromatographic methods. Their structures were proposed by HR-APCI-MS and NMR experiments. Compounds (2–5) were notified for the first time from this species. Compound 1 showed weak cytotoxic effect against three human cancer cell lines (MCF-7, HepG2 and HeLa) using SRB assay.

The present study was carried out to analyze the possible active constituents present in the ethanolic extract of stem bark, leaves, and seeds of Sterculia quadrifida (Sterculiaceae). S. quadrifida is locally known as "Faloak" in East Nusa Tenggara Province and commonly used in traditional medicine to treat hepatitis. Its parts were collected from Kupang City, East Nusa Tenggara province. Chemical compounds were identified by Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Fifteen compounds are identified in stem bark, twenty-one compounds in leaves, and fourteen compounds in seeds that can contribute to the medicinal quality of the plant. The prevailing compounds are Tributyl acetyl citrate (35.66%), 2,6,10,14,18,22-Tetracosahexaene (20.64%) and Hexadecanoic acid (48.84%). A minor component, such as Vitamin E, is also present. Hexadecanoic (synonym - Palmitic acid) acid has been reported to possess antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activities.

Viral diseases transmitted by the female Aedes aegypti L. are considered a major public health problem. The aerial parts of Helicteres velutina K. Schum (Sterculiaceae) have demonstrated potential insecticidal and larvicidal activity against this vector. The objective of this research was to investigate the mechanisms of action involved in the larvicidal activity of this species. The cytotoxicity activity of H. velutina fractions and compounds of crude ethanolic extract of the aerial parts of this species was assessed by using fluorescence microscopy and propidium iodide staining. In addition, the production of nitric oxide (NO) and hemocyte recruitment were checked after different periods of exposure. The fluorescence microscopy revealed an increasing in larvae cell necrosis for the dichloromethane fraction, 7,4&prime, di-O-methyl-8-O-sulphate flavone and hexane fraction (15.4, 11.0, and 7.0%, respectively). The tiliroside did not show necrotic cells, which showed the same result as that seen in the negative control. The NO concentration in hemolymph after 24 h exposure was significantly greater for the dichloromethane fraction and the 7,4&prime, di-O-methyl-8-O-sulphate flavone (123.8 and 56.2 &mu, M, respectively) when compared to the hexane fraction and tiliroside (10.8 and 8.3 &mu, M, respectively). The presence of plasmocytes only in the dichloromethane fraction and 7,4&prime, di-O-methyl-8-O-sulphate flavone treatments suggest that these would be the hemocytes responsible for the highest NO production, acting as a defense agent. Our results showed that the larvicidal activity developed by H. velutina compounds is related to its hemocyte necrotizing activity and alteration in NO production.

Rianawati H, Siswadi. 2019. Effect of donor plants and rooting medium on the stem cutting propagation of faloak (Sterculia quadrifida). Trop Drylands 4: 31-35. Faloak (Sterculia quadrifida R.Br.) is a semiarid species and one of an important medicinal plant from Sterculiaceae family. This species facing a threat as the exploitation level has reached an alarming stage and low seed production. In order to cease these problems, vegetative propagation could be an alternative method to increase S. quadrifida’s regeneration. The study was conducted to investigate the effect of donor plants and rooting medium on stem cutting propagation of S. quadrifida. The stem cuttings from S. quadrifida seedlings/juvenile (3.7-8.5 mm in diameter) and S. quadrifida trees/mature plants with two different size of diameter, small diameter (5.8-13.8 mm) and large diameter (15.4-24.4 mm), were planted in three various growth medium (soil, soil+manure of 1:1 ratio, and coco peat). The result showed that the survival rates of stem cuttings from juvenile donor plants and mature plants with large diameter were higher (15%-25%) than the survival rate of mature cuttings with small diameter (0%-5%). However, the rooting medium had no significant effect on the survival rate of stem cutting. Additionally, variables measured at the end of the observation, such as the number of roots/cutting, root length, number of nodes, number of leaves, leaf size were not significantly different among the survived stem cuttings from different treatments.

Paraeulioptera Massa, new genus. Figs. 15���20 Type species: Paraeulioptera emitflesti n. sp., here designated Diagnosis. Characterized by fore femora flattened, long legs, open tympana and tegmina translucent. Description. General habitus. Head and antennae. Fastigium of vertex narrower than first antennal segment, not contiguous with fastigium of frons, sulcate above. Eyes circular, prominent, face smooth, higher than wide. Thorax. Pronotum smooth, higher than long, with a well-developed humeral excision, lateral lobes widely rounded. Legs. Long, fore coxae armed with a fine spine, fore femora flattened laterally, fore and mid femora unarmed, hind femora armed, fore and mid tibiae ventrally armed, genicular lobes of hind femora armed with two spines on inner and outer margins. Open tympana on inner and on outer margins of fore tibiae. Tegmina translucent, narrow, welldeveloped, shorter than hind wings. Stridulatory area marked. Styli present. Etymology. The name Paraeulioptera means that it is related to Eulioptera Ragge, 1956. Remarks. Paraeulioptera n. genus is related to Eulioptera and to Phaneroptera Serville, 1831. According to Ragge (1980), the genus Eulioptera is closely related to Phaneroptera, but has translucent tegmina and has not styli, while the number of apical spurs on each side of hind tibiae is variable (two or three; one species with only one spur has been moved to the genus Pigalua Massa, 2017)., Published as part of Massa, Bruno, Annoyer, Philippe, Perez, Cyrille, Danflous, Samuel & Duvot, Guilhem, 2020, Orthoptera Tettigoniidae (Conocephalinae, Hexacentrinae, Phaneropterinae Mecopodinae, Hetrodinae) from some protected areas of Central African Republic, pp. 401-447 in Zootaxa 4780 (3) on page 409, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4780.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3855195, {"references":["Ragge, D. R. (1980) A review of the African Phaneropterinae with open tympana (Orthoptera: Tettigoniidae). Bulletin British Museum (Natural History) Entomology, 40, 1 - 192. [http: // www. archive. org / details / bulletinofbritis 40 entolond]"]}

Paraeulioptera emitflesti Massa, new sp. Figs. 15���20 Material examined. CAR. Dzanga-Sangha SR, Camp 2, on a Kungu (Piptadenastrium africanum, Fabaceae) (platform 40m), 23.X.2008 (light), P. Annoyer (1♂ holotype) (BMPC). Diagnosis. P. emitflesti n. sp. is characterized by fore femora flattened, long legs, open tympana and tegmina translucent. Description. Male (Fig. 15). General habitus and colour. General colour cream and black, antennae grey, body and tegmina grey, pronotum blackish bordered with cream, legs white and black, tarsi blackish and white, base of spines on hind tibiae black (Fig. 15). Head and antennae. Fastigium of vertex not contiguous with fastigium of frons, narrower than first antennal segment, sulcate above. Eyes circular, prominent, face smooth (Figs. 15, 20). Thorax. Pronotum higher than long, surface shiny with a well-developed humeral excision on the lateral lobes (Fig. 20). Anterior margin of pronotum straight, posterior margin rounded, pronotum lobes widely rounded. Tegmina translucent with a net of veinlets; anterior margin of tegmina straight. Stridulatory area marked, right tegmina with the mirror (Fig. 16), stridulatory file ca. 1.2 mm long, consisting of about 70 evenly spaced teeth (Fig. 19). Legs. Long, fore coxae armed with a fine spine, open tympana on inner and on outer fore tibiae, that are furrowed dorsally. Fore femora flattened (Fig. 17). Ventral margin of fore and mid femora unarmed, ventral outer and inner margins of hind femora armed with 4���5 spines, genicular lobes of hind femora armed with 1 spine on inner and outer margins. Fore tibiae ventrally armed with 4 spines + 1 apical spur on outer and inner margins, mid tibiae armed with 7 ventral spines + 1 spur on outer and inner margins, hind tibiae with many spines on ventral and dorsal margins + 3 apical spurs on each side. Abdomen. Cerci long and incurved (Fig.18). Subgenital plate much longer than wide, ending with two small styli. Measurements (mm). Male. Body length: 16.7; length of pronotum: 3.2; height of pronotum: 3.7; length of fore femora: 4.9; length of mid femora: 7.3; length of hind femora: 20.8; length of tegmina: 30.5; width of tegmina: 4.9. Etymology. Emit Flesti (read back to front: Time Itself) is the mysterious figure in the movie Faraway so close directed by Win Wenders and produced in 1993. Among the characters there were Emit Flesti (Willem Dafoe), Cassiel (Otto Sander) and Raphaela (Nastassja Kinski), two angels who observed the busy life of reunited Berlin. Emit Flesti is famous for his sentences on the time meaning (e.g.: time is the absence of money; time is your god, if you are its dog; we are the creators of time, the victims of time, and the killers of time; time is timeless); emitflesti should be treated as a noun in apposition. Distribution. At present P. emitflesti n. sp. is known only from the Dzanga-Ndoki NP (CAR)., Published as part of Massa, Bruno, Annoyer, Philippe, Perez, Cyrille, Danflous, Samuel & Duvot, Guilhem, 2020, Orthoptera Tettigoniidae (Conocephalinae, Hexacentrinae, Phaneropterinae Mecopodinae, Hetrodinae) from some protected areas of Central African Republic, pp. 401-447 in Zootaxa 4780 (3) on page 409, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.4780.3.1, http://zenodo.org/record/3855195

Massa, Bruno, Annoyer, Philippe, Perez, Cyrille, Danflous, Samuel, Duvot, Guilhem (2020): Orthoptera Tettigoniidae (Conocephalinae, Hexacentrinae, Phaneropterinae Mecopodinae, Hetrodinae) from some protected areas of Central African Republic. Zootaxa 4780 (3): 401-447, DOI: https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4780.3.1

Objectives: Plants from the family Sterculiaceae are used as folk medicine for treating various diseases in India. This study aims to determine the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of Pterospermum rubiginosum and Pterospermum reticulatum of the family Sterculiaceae. The barks of P. rubiginosum and P. reticulatum are used in traditional medicine especially in the treatment of wounds, sprains, bone fracture, etc. This study, we compare the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potentials of the stem bark of these two plants. Methods: The free radical scavenging assays such as 2,2–diphenyl,1–picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2’–azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiozoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS), hydroxyl radical, nitric oxide radical, phosphormolybdenum assay, and reducing power assay are used for the measurement of antioxidant potentials. The in vitro anti-inflammatory activities of the extracts are evaluated by means of lipoxygenase (LOX) and protease inhibition. Results: Both P. rubiginosum and P. reticulatum scavenge DPPH (70.10% and 91.02%), ABTS (94.48 and 98.19%), hydroxy (76.02 and 87.67%), and nitric oxide (87.02 and 80.84%) radicals. Phosphomolybdenum assay and reducing power assay, used for the measurement of antioxidant potentials also showed good results. Regarding the anti-inflammatory potential, the methanolic extract of the plants shows anti-protease activity (51.29 and 64.93%) and anti-LOX activity (56%) while P. rubiginosum does not exhibit anti-LOX activity. Conclusion: The above results demonstrate that the plants P. rubiginosum and P. reticulatum are rich source of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory compounds and it is the first report on theantioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the barks of these plants.

Introduction: Guazuma ulmifolia (Sterculiaceae) is commonly used in folk medicine as a single drug remedy to treat various ailments like; skin diseases, headache, wounds, ulcers, asthma, kidney disease and malaria. However, the use of the herb for treatment of pain and inflammation has not been scientifically investigated. Objective: This study of 80% methanolic crude extract of the leaves of Guazuma ulmifolia was evaluated for its analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties using established animal models. Material and methods: Wister albino rats were randomly divided into four groups of six rats per group. The control group was orally given 2 ml/kg (p.o.) of distilled water. The positive control received standard drug (Diclofenac 10 mg//kg, Indomethacin 20 mg/kg). The rest of the groups were treated with 80% methanolic extract of Guazuma ulmifolia at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg. Animals were then subjected to tests using hot plate and tail-clip for analgesic activity, for anti-inflammatory activity carrageenan-induced paw edema test and histamine-induced paw edema test was used. Result and Discussion: Guazuma ulmifolia extract showed a dose-dependent significant reduction of pain in analgesia models (p

Theobroma cacao L. (Sterculiaceae) leaves have been used in folklore medicine as treatment for wound healing, worm expellers and malaria cure. In this study, the antioxidant and anthelmintic activities of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the leaves of Theobroma cacao were investigated. The phytochemicals (tannins, phenols, saponins, terpenoids, flavonoids and glycosides) present in the leaves were determined using standard procedures. Antioxidant activities such as free radical scavenging and ferric reducing power of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts were determined. In vitro anthelmintic properties of the extracts were also investigated using adult earthworms (Pheretima posthuma) and the amount of time for paralysis and subsequently death was determined. Tannins, saponins, glycosides, phenol were found to be present in all the extracts, flavonoids were present in the ethanolic extract only. Aqueous extract (extracted at hot conditions) had higher DPPH scavenging activity with IC50 of 11.76 mg/mL while the ethanolic extract had higher ferric reducing power, total phenolic content and anthelmintic potential. All the extracts elicited significant anthelmintic activity comparable to that of standard drug (albendazole) with ethanolic extract showing lesser time taken to paralysis and death (14 ± 0.00 min and 16 ± 1.15 min respectively) for 50 mg/mL concentration. The presence of important phytochemicals and antioxidants in the leaves is a scientific justification of the traditional use of the plant in folklore medicine against various diseases affecting both humans and animals, especially as an anthelmintic.

Tropical forests of Bangladesh are facing rapid loss in floristic diversity and resultant changes of vegetation necessitates the assessment of plant composition and diversity. The present study was conducted to assess the composition of native tree species of Rampahar Forest Reserve of Rangamati hill district, Bangladesh. Rampahar is a remnant tropical semi-evergreen natural forest extending to an area of 648 ha. Simple random sampling method with 20 m × 20 m sized 20 and 5 m × 5 m sized 10 samples plots were used to study both tree species composition and seedling status of tree species. A total of 50 tree species under 28 families and 15 regenerating tree species under 13 families were recorded in the study area. Family Moraceae possessed the highest number of tree species (6 species) while families Anacardiaceae and Sterculiaceae possessed the highest number (2 species) for regenerating tree species. The survey indicated that Protium serratum (Wall. ex Colebr.) Engl. is the most dominant tree species with the highest relative density (RD), relative frequency (RF) and importance value index (IVI). Basal area of all the tree species was 13.13 m2/ha where Ficus religiosa was represented by the highest basal area (1.14 m2/ha). Protium serratum was also a dominant regenerating tree species with highest RD (15.24%), RF (16.30%) and IVI (50.09). The native trees species of this remnant forest need attention for immediate conservation

Faloak (Sterculia populifolia DC.) is one of species of sterculiaceae found in East Nusa Tenggara which has potential as a medicinal plant mainly as an antimicrobial. This study aims to determine the correlation of physicochemical study of faloak bark extracts with variation of solvents in inhibiting of pathogenic bacteria. The sample was extracted by maceration method with different polarity level of solvents i.e acetone, acetone 70%, water, ethanol 96%, ethanol 70% and ethanol 50%. The results of extraction through maceration indicate the difference of yield recovery from each of the extraction solvents. The highest yield was obtained from 70% ethanol extract, while the lowest yield of acetone extract. The increase of solvent polarity in this study did not give effect to the amount of recovery of yield. It is also seen from the highest total phenolic content obtained from 70% acetone extract while the lowest in aquadest extract. The antibacterial activity of faloak bark extract on Salmonella typhi was tested using agar diffusion method with 1% of extract solution. Both of ethanol 96% and acetone extracts did not show any inhibitory activity. The largest inhibitory activity was demonstrated by 50% ethanol extract. The polarity level of the extract, the level of total phenolic content and the magnitude of rendement did not show correlation of increased inhibitory activity on Salmonella thypi as well.