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Zanthoxylum armatum (family-Rutaceae) is a medicinally important and endangered plant species from Himalayan region. The objective of this study was to analyze the effect of different solvents on total phenolic content, total flavonoid content and antioxidant activity of Z. armatum leaves collected from different geographical regions of Himachal Pradesh. Extract of various solvents (chloroform, methanol, n-butanol and water) were prepared using cold maceration method. Total phenolic and flavonoid content of different extracts was quantified by spectrophotometric method. DPPH and FRAP assays were used to evaluate the antioxidant activity of different extracts of Z. armatum leaves. Among all the solvent extracts from different regions, methanol extract (9.26±1.13mg g-1 GAE) of leaves samples collected from Sirmour showed higher total phenolic content; while chloroform extract of Solan (10.7±0.29mg g-1 RE) showed higher flavonoid content. Chloroform extract of Sirmour (9.61±4.02µg ml-1) showed comparatively higher % DPPH radical scavenging activity; whereas, methanol extract of Shimla (55.92±2.0µM Fe (II) equivalents) showed higher FRAP activity among all solvents extract from all geographical regions. The present study also showed correlation of solvent with various parameters such as phenolic content, flavonoid content, DPPH and FRAP assay. These parameters also vary with geographical locations. The results from the present study validate the importance of leaves of Z. armatum as source of natural antioxidants.

Zanthoxylum armatum used as a medicine from ancient time for cure of various diseases such as toothache and problems related to tooth, asthma, used for gum bleeding, fever, dyspepsia, and tonics etc. Phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, diseases, traditional uses etc are explained in this review article .This article have information of the Z. armatum which may have Phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, diseases, traditional uses etc. Some latest info of Phytochemistry, pharmacological activities, diseases, traditional uses may show clearance in review. Different activities of various diseases known as antioxidants, antinociceptive, antifungal, antinflammtory, hepatoprotective, pesticides, anthelminitic, antiproliferative etc including chemical constituents like resins, 1-alphaphellandrene, linalool, carbonyl compound, methyl n-nonylketone. Linalyl acetate, sesquiterpene, hydrocarbon, tricosaine, dictamine, fragarine, magnoflorine, skimmianine, xanthoplanine. It is expected that more investigation on plant can be done. This review article is helpful to get various important evidence regarding the plant Zanthoxylum armatum which will works as key point for the future investigation. Keywords: Z.armatum, Phytochemistry, traditional uses, pharmacological activities.

Antibacterial and antioxidant activities of three different extracts (acetone, methanol, and n-hexane) of Zanthoxylum armatum fruits and leaves were investigated. The maximum inhibition zone was shown by methanolic leaf extract against K. pneumonia (20.51 ± 0.93). The minimum inhibition zone (12.01 ± 0.93) was exhibited by methanolic fruit extract against S. typhi. The highest antioxidant activity was recorded at 1000 ppm. Methanolic leaf extract was the most antioxidant (89.8%) among all the extracts, followed by methanolic fruit extract (88.6%). The methanolic and acetonic extracts showed good antibacterial activity as compared to n-hexane extracts and n-hexane was less antioxidant.

The essential oil and methanol extract of the fruit of Zanthoxylum armatum DC were extracted by hydro-distillation in the Clevenger apparatus and cold percolation technique respectively and their chemical and biological studies were performed. The chemical compositions of essential oil were analyzed by GC-MS analysis. The most abundant ingredient was Linalool (75.31%) followed by E-methyl cinnamate (11.73%) and limonene (9.45%). The nature of the functional groups present in the extract was analyzed by performing FTIR analysis. The methanol extract showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, polyphenols, terpenoids, volatile oils, tannins, and saponins. Biological activities of the oil and extract were evaluated by performing brine shrimp bioassay, antibacterial activity test, and antifungal activity test. Essential oil (LC50 = 76.70 µg/mL) and methanol extract (LC50 = 62.25 µg/mL) were found highly cytotoxic against brine-shrimp nauplii. The essential oil showed potent antibacterial activity against gram-positive bacteria Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus leutus, and Staphylococcus aureus with the zone of inhibitions 11 mm, 16 mm, and 17 mm respectively and moderate antibacterial activity against the gram-negative bacteria Klebsiella pneumonia, Enterobacter cloacae, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa with the zone of inhibitions 9 mm, 5 mm and 6 mm respectively. The methanol extract was found to be effective against gram-positive bacteria only. Both oil and extract showed moderate antifungal activity against bacterial strains.

The utilization of wild plants for livelihood and income generation is a traditional practice adopted by various indigenous communities worldwide. Zanthoxylum armatum DC. is one of the most preferred species harvested from wild and used extensively by the local indigenous communities in the northeastern part of India as well as in the neighbouring countries like Bhutan and Nepal. This species has been widely used by the local tribes as a spice in flavouring various foodstuffs and also for the treatment of numerous health ailments. We studied the distribution, population, ethnobotanical uses and marketing potentials of Zanthoxylum armatum in 12 districts of Arunachal Pradesh during 2018-2019. The study revealed its occurrence in the subtropical and temperate forest of the state with maximum population in forest edges and open forests around agricultural lands of West Kameng and Lower Subansiri districts. The analysis of the population in Shergaon area revealed its good representation with 1.04 /m2 density contributing 0.051 m2/ha. basal cover and 20.011 IVI. Even after its various uses, no cultivation of the species was practised by the local people. The dried fruits that are marketed @Rs. 800-1200/kg in the state are entirely collected from the wild. As the population of the species is limited in most of the area and the supply of fruits is only from the wild, extensive plantation and management practices will serve both the conservation as well the economic gain to the local communities.

INTRODUCTION Depression is a global mental disorder that has high incidence, high recurrence, and high self-mutilation and suicide rates. Although the antidepressant drugs are available for the treatment, depression still continues to be a major medical problem. The present study was designed to study the anti-depressant activity of the leaves extract of Zanthoxylum armatum using forced swim test and tail suspension test (TST) on Swiss albino mice. MATERIAL AND METHODS The anti-depressant activity of the leaves of Zanthoxylum armatum was assessed using chronic unpredictable mild-stress (CUMS) induced depression in mice. The animals were treated with the methanolic extract of leaves of Zanthoxylum armatum orally at two doses of 100, 200 mg/kg body weight for eight days after (CUMS) induced depression in mice. RESULTS The data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by tukey multiple comparison test. The leaves extract presented significant antidepressant activity in mice (p

Medicinal plants represent an essential source of drugs and have played an important role in healthcaresystem.PyracanthacrenulataandZanthoxylum armatumhave been used as traditional medicine. The main aim of the study was to find the antibacterial activity of the selected plants against bacterialspecies:E.coliandPseudomonasaeruginosa. The solvents used for plant extraction were hexane, chloroform, ethanol and aqueous. The in vitro antimicrobial activity was performed by Agar disk diffusion method. The hexane and aqueous extracts showed moderate activity whereas theethanolicextractsshowedasignificantantibacterial activity. In the study Tetracycline was used as standard. The combined ethanolic extract of both the selected plant showed the synergistic effect on the bacterial strain tested. This leads to the conclusion that the combined effect can have possible application in the development of products as antimicrobial.Keywords: Pyracantha crenulata, Zanthoxylum armatum, Antibiotics, MIC, Antimicrobial activity

Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the phytoconstituents, estimation of total phenolic content and in vitro antioxidant activity of Zanthoxylum armatum from Myagdi district of Nepal. Methods: The seeds extract of Zanthoxylum armatum was prepared by cold percolation in hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol with continuous agitation. Phytochemical analysis for each extracts was performed by color differentiation method adopting the standard protocol. Antioxidant potential of the extracts was performed by DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) free radical scavenging assay by taking ascorbic acid as standard. Total phenolic content was estimated by Folin–Ciocalteu reagent method. Results: The analysis of secondary metabolites showed the presence of quinones and terpenoidsin almost all extracts while alkaloids, polyphenols, tannins and saponins were abundant in polar extracts. The results of antioxidant activity showed the methanol extract of Zanthoxylum armatum IC50 87.47µg/ml was found to be more antioxidant as compared to the standard ascorbic acid IC50 66.40 µg/ml. Ethyl acetate extract showed moderate antioxidant activity with IC50 142.04 µg/ml, whereas hexane extract showed the poor antioxidant activity with IC50 384.03 µg/ml. The result of total phenolic content showed, ethyl acetate fraction has the highest 26.28±9.35 mg GAE/g as compared to methanol extract 23.36±14.80 mg GAE/g and hexane extract showed the poor phenolic content 20.05±8.0 mg GAE/g. Conclusion: The seeds extracts of Zanthoxlum armatum were found the rich source of secondary metabolites. The methanol extract was found potent antioxidant as compared to ethyl acetate and hexane extract. It is concluded that further activity guided isolation approaches will be needed on methanol extract to identify the active compound responsible for in vivo and in vitro antioxidant activity.

The fruits of Zanthoxylum armatum DC. were collected from different altitudes (1000–2000 m) and populations (wild and cultivated) from Salyan district, Nepal. The essential oil was extracted by Clevenger apparatus and the components were analyzed through GC-MS. The yield of essential oil obtained from hydro-distillation of fruits ranged from 2.72 to 7.6%. The maximum yield was 7.6% from wild fruits at 1600–1800 m altitude and the minimum was 2.72% from cultivated fruits at 1000–1200 m altitude. This was the highest recorded essential oil yield from Z. armatum fruits. A total of 13 volatile compounds were identified from the essential oil by GC-MS analysis. The major components were linalool, cinnamate (E)methyl, limonene, myrcene, sabinene and terpinen-4-ol, which were present in higher proportion in all the samples. Other components were identified in a very low proportion. The main component linalool occurred in the highest proportion (74.12%) from wild populations at 1600–1800 m altitude and the lowest (44.73%) was from cultivated populations at 1000–1200 m altitude. The highest proportion of linalool was also reported for the first time in this study from Z. armatum fruits. Among the six major components of the essential oil, terpinen-4-ol was present in the lowest proportion. Results of the present study indicated that the altitude and habitat types could affect the essential oil composition in Zanthoxylum armatum fruits.

The seed kernel protein isolate (SKPI) extracted from Zanthoxylum armatum DC. was analyzed to determine its physicochemical and emulsifying properties. The results showed that the purity of SKPI was 93.17%, it contained large flakes with a sparse texture, it was sufficiently water soluble, and it showed a wide molecular weight distribution. The main molecular mass was 6.69 kDa. The pH and the concentration of NaCl strongly affected the emulsifying properties of SKPI. The emulsifying activity index (EAI) and emulsifying stability index (ESI) of SKPI were relatively low at pH 3 and decreased with increase in NaCl concentration. The trends in the particle size of the emulsion were consistent with those of the EAI and ESI. The results of this work contribute to broadening the edible protein resources.

An efficient in vitro propagation protocol for Zanthoxylum armatum DC has been developed via indirect organogenesis using aseptic leaf explants. The explants were soaked for different time duration...

Two new sesquiterpenoid glycosides as dihydrophaseic acid 4′-O-[6″-O-(4″′-hydroxy-3″′, 5″′-dimethoxy) benzoyl)]-β-D-glucopyranoside (1) and dihydrophaseic acid 4′-O-[6″-O-(3″′-methoxy- 4″′-hydroxy)...

The present study was elucidating the cardioprotective activity of hydroethanoic extract of Zanthoxylum armatum (Z. armatum) fruit on serum cardiac markers, lipid profile and the level of antioxidants in experimentally induced myocardial infarction (MI). The hydroethanolic extract of Z. armatum fruit was administered at a dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight for 30 days to male Wistar albino rats. On 28th and 29th day, isoproterenol (ISO) (8.5mg/100g body weight) was administered to induce MI. Animals were sacrificed; blood and heart tissues were removed and the biochemical parameters were carried out. Serum markers such as aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), creatine kinase-MB (CK-MB) and troponin –T were significantly (p

Objectives: To analyze the microscopic, macroscopic, physicochemical, and phytochemical standards of the Zanthoxylum armatum DC. (stem bark). Methods: Pharamacognostic studies, namely macroscopic, microscopic, and powder microscopic analysis of stem bark were carried out. Physicochemical standards - ash content including total ash content, water soluble, and acid insoluble ash values, moisture content by loss on drying, solubility and extractive values of Z. armatum DC. were determined. Preliminary phytochemical screening, fluorescence analysis and quantification of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenol, tannins, saponins, and terpenoids were also studied. Results: The macroscopic studies of stem bark showed the stem and its branches, armed with long, sharp prickles with variable size. The transverse section of bark showed the phellogen, phelloderm, cortex, phloem, and medullary rays that are characteristics to Z. armatum DC. The results of physicochemical standards give the identity and purity of the selected sample. Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, saponins, and terpenoids. Conclusion: The present findings provide the pharmacognostic, physicochemical, and phytochemical information about the stem bark of Z. armatum and this might be useful by providing additional support with regard to its identification and standardization parameters.

Ethnopharmacological relevance Zanthoxylum armatum DC. possesses several medicinal properties and has been commonly used in different indigenous medicinal practices to cure several diseases because of its stomachic, carminative and anthelmintic properties. Aim This review paper aims to provide an update on and analysis of information about the ecology, uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, trade opportunities, policy gaps for the commercialization of this species forming a basis for further scientific innovations Materials and methods Information was gathered through a search of different books, journals, articles, annual reports, proceedings and web-based materials. Result Alkaloids, sterols, phenolics, lignins coumarins, terpenoids and flavonoids have been identified from leaves, fruits, stem, bark and seeds. Its trade value is also very high with its manifold applications in Ayurveda, allopathy, general pharmacy, and other industries. Antimicrobial, antiviral, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, cytotoxic, hepato-protective, insecticidal/larvicidal effects are of particular relevance. Conclusion It is one of the prioritized medicinal plants for economic development in Nepal. Owing to its diverse applications, the species can be developed as an important commodity for alleviation of poverty in rural areas. The various ethno-pharmacological applications of Zanthoxylum armatum have been verified by several related researches. More extensive study on the individual specific phyto-component can lead to novel innovations for the well-being of mankind.

Variation in the composition of leaf essential oils of Zanthoxylum armatum in relation to altitude and soil chemistry was analyzed in Nepal. The essential oil was extracted by Clevenger apparatus and the components were analyzed through GC-MS. The results showed that: Yield of the essential oil obtained from the hydro-distillation of dried leaves ranged from 0.16% to 0.50%. GC-MS analysis revealed total of 17 compounds in the essential oil from the dried leaves of Z. armatum from different altitudes and populations (wild and cultivated). The three major components, linalool, limonene and undecan-2-one, present in higher proportion in all the samples were analyzed. Other components tridecan-2-one, myrcene, cinnamate(E)-methyl and alpha-bergamotene were also identified in most of the samples but in lower proportions. The highest number of components (12) was identified from the wild samples collected from 1990 m and the lowest number (7) was from 1060 m (wild) and 2030 m (cultivated populations). Linalool, a major component was found in higher amount (64.88%) at the lowest altitude of 1060 m. Results of the present study showed that the altitude, soil chemistry, and growing conditions significantly affect the essential oil components in Zanthoxylum armatum.

Because of extensive cultivation areas, various cultivars, nonstandard naming notations, and morphology similarity among relative cultivars, adulteration and associated business fraud may happen in the marketplaces of prickly ash pericarps due to higher financial gain and high-frequency trading. This study presents variations in the chemical components and contents of different prickly ash species from different plantations. Alkylamide profiling of pericarps derived from Zanthoxylum armatum, Z. bungeanum, and some relative Zanthoxylum species from 72 plantations across China were tested using ultra-performance liquid chromatography. Then, several chemometrics were applied to classify the prickly ash pericarps to reveal potential indicators that distinguish prickly ash pericarps and to identify the key factors that affect pericarp alkylamide profiling. The dominating alkylamides in the prickly ash pericarps were Z. piperitum (ZP)-amide C (0–20.64 mg/g) and ZP-amide D (0–30.43 mg/g). Alkylamide profiling of prickly ash pericarps varied significantly across species and geographical variations. ZP-amide D in prickly ash pericarps was identified as a potential indicator to distinguish prickly ash species. Longitude and aluminum content in soils were identified as key factors that affected alkylamide profiling of prickly ash pericarps. This study provides a useful tool to classify prickly ash species based on pericarp alkylamide profiling and to determine the key influence factors on pericarp alkylamide variations.

Zanthoxylum armatum DC. (Rutaceae) is a shrub and/or tree species with the important medicinal and economic values. In this study, the plastid genome of Z. armatum was characterized by Illumina Hiseq 2500 sequencing platform. In total, the plastid genome is 158,557 bp in length, and comprises a large single copy region of 85,752 bp, a small single copy region of 17,605 bp, and two inverted repeat regions of 27,600 bp. The complete plastid genome contains 87 protein-coding genes, 37 tRNA genes, and 8 rRNA genes. Phylogenetic analysis suggested that Z. armatum and the congeneric Z. simulans clustered into an evolutionary clade with the high support.

Background Zanthoxylum armatum (Z. armatum) is a highly economically important tree that presents a special numbing taste. However, the underlying regulatory mechanism of the numbing taste remains poorly understood. Thus, the elucidation of the key genes associated with numbing taste biosynthesis pathways is critical for providing genetic information on Z. armatumand the breeding of high-quality germplasms of this species. Results Here, de novo transcriptome assembly was performed for the five major organs of Z. armatum, including the roots, stems, leaf buds, mature leaves and fruits. A total of 111,318 unigenes were generated with an average length of 1014 bp. Additionally, a large number of SSRs were obtained to improve our understanding of the phylogeny and genetics of Z. armatum. The organ-specific unigenes of the five major samples were screened and annotated via GO and KEGG enrichment analysis. A total of 53 and 34 unigenes that were exclusively upregulated in fruit samples were identified as candidate unigenes for terpenoid biosynthesis or fatty acid biosynthesis, elongation and degradation pathways, respectively. Moreover, 40 days after fertilization (Fr4 stage) could be an important period for the accumulation of terpenoid compounds during the fruit development and maturation of Z. armatum. The Fr4 stage could be a key point at which the first few steps of the fatty acid biosynthesis process are promoted, and the catalysis of subsequent reactions could be significantly induced at 62 days after fertilization (Fr6 stage). Conclusions The present study realized de novo transcriptome assembly for the five major organs of Z. armatum. To the best of our knowledge, this study provides the first comprehensive analysis revealing the genes underlying the special numbing taste of Z. armatum. The assembled transcriptome profiles expand the available genetic information on this species and will contribute to gene functional studies, which will aid in the engineering of high-quality cultivars of Z. armatum.

Zanthoxylum armatum, its peels possessed better special flavour, as well as various bioactivities, such as anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-tumour. In our chemical investigation on the peels of Z. armatum, two new lignans (1 and 2) and three known lignans (3–5) were isolated by silica gel column chromatography, ODS column and preparative HPLC and their structures were established as zanthlignans A and B (1–2), (-)-asarinin (3), phylligenin (4) and planispine A (5) through various spectroscopic techniques including UV, IR, HR-ESI-MS, NMR and CD methods.

Zanthoxylum armatum (ZA) is a medicinal plant (MP) that is widely distributed in hilly and moist areas and has a different medical effect on human curative functions. Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) was employed as a simple, easy, and accurate method to analyze the elemental profile of Zanthoxylum armatum (ZA) (timur). Various elements present in different parts of ZA were identified including sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, titanium, iron, barium, aluminum, lithium, and silicon. The proposed method accuracy was found to be comparable with high technical complicated lab equipment The concentrations of these elements were determined and were found to be below the toxic level. Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Scopus

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) using oligonucleotide probes for (GAA)6 (18 bp) and ribosomal DNA (rDNA) (5S rDNA, 41 bp) was applied to analyse Zanthoxylum armatum. (GAA)6 loci were detected on the pericentromeric regions of five chromosome pairs, and 5S rDNA loci were also detected on the pericentromeric regions of another two chromosome pairs. The densities and locations of (GAA)6 and 5S rDNA signals varied between individual chromosomes. High-intensity (GAA)6 signals were detected at the centromeres of two large and two smaller metacentric chromosomes. Relatively strong (GAA)6 signals were detected at the centromeres of two relatively small metacentric chromosomes, although strong 5S rDNA signals were detected at the centromeres of two additional smaller metacentric chromosomes. Weak (GAA)6 signals were detected at the centromeres of four large metacentric chromosomes, whereas weak 5S rDNA signals were detected at the centromeres of two smaller metacentric chromosomes. The remaining chromosomes exhibited no signals. Zanthoxylum armatum had 2n = ∼128. The lengths of the mitotic metaphase chromosomes ranged from 1.22 to 2.34 μm. Our results provide information that may be beneficial for future cytogenetic studies and could contribute to the physical assembly of the Zanthoxylum genome.

Bamboo-Leaf Prickly Ash, Zanthoxylum armatum (Rutaceae) is a versatile and widely distributed plant species in nature. It is an edible plant species, commonly used in daily life for condiments and therapeutic remedies. Besides its bioactive and medicinal properties, different plant parts of the Z. armatum also have insecticidal potential. However, this potential has not been yet determined against many agricultural pests, including leaf worm, Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae). In this study, we demonstrated for the first time the contact and oral toxicity and sub-lethal effects (including antifeedent and ovicidal action) of various fractions of pericarp, leaf and seeds of Z. armatum against S. litura. Overall findings revealed that the n-hexane pericarp extract of Z. armatum has strong antifeedent, ovicidal and larvicidal properties against S. litura . Sub-lethal doses of pericarp extract can negatively alter the biology of S. litura . Since n-hexane extract of leaves also has better larvicidal properties, it could also be utilized for the S. litura management during period of unavailability of fruits (or pericarp). Accordingly, the Z. armatum pericarp and leaf extract has tremendous commercial utilization potential for the management of polyphagus pests like S. litura and other related species, which are quite difficult to manage even by chemical pesticides.

The present study was designed to evaluate the antidiabetic potential of the aqueous leaves extract of Zanthoxylum armatum DC. leaves using in vivo and in vitro approaches. For in vivo studies, blood glucose level was monitored at different intervals after administration of varying doses of the extract for its hypoglycemic (100–6000 mg/kg b.w.) and antihyperglycemic (250 mg/kg b.w.) effect in normoglycemic and diabetic mice. In vitro enzymatic inhibition activity was tested against α-amylase, α- and β-glucosidase and lipase. Additionally hydroxyl radical, hydrogen peroxide scavenging assay and phytochemical screening were also performed. Element analysis of the plant was studied by Atomic Absorption Spectrometry (AAS) and Inductively Coupled Plasma Atomic Emission Spectrometer (ICP-AES). The plant extract showed significant hypoglycemic and antihyperglycemic effect in normoglycemic and diabetic mice. The IC50 values of extract for α-amylase, β-glucosidase, lipase, hydroxyl radical scavenging activity, hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity were 7.40 mg/ml, 0.30 mg/ml, 8.35 mg/ml, 3.25 mg/ml, 9.62 mg/ml respectively and the percentage of inhibition for α-glucosidase was 79.82% at 0.8 mg/ml. In vitro studies were compared with their respective standards. Elemental analysis revealed the presence of essential elements such as Mg, V, Fe, Cr, Zn, Cu, Mo, Mn, K, Ca, P and Sr which are all known to play a role in regulating blood glucose. The results demonstrate that Z. armatum aqueous leaves extract possess antidiabetic property in both in vivo and in vitro condition., Graphical abstract Image 1

Timur (Zanthoxylum armatum DC.) also known as toothache tree or winged prickly ash is an important large thorny wild shrub of Rutaceae family. Owing to its high medicinal properties, the plant population is rapidly depleting due to the unsustainable premature harvesting from open-access forests. Because of which the plant species can become endangered or rare in the absence of conservation measures through its mass propagation. Seed propagation in Timur is a time consuming and tedious process due to the requirement for stratification. Here, we report the effect of different seed pre-treatments including water soaking, potassium nitrate (300 mM), sodium chloride (75 mM) and concentrated sulfuric acid treatments followed by water soaking on seed germination in Timur. Seed pre-treatment with acid for 120 min resulted in rapid and synchronous seed germination whereas the control, water-soaked, potassium nitrate or sodium chloride-treated seeds failed to germinate during the observation period of 30 days. The plantlets from acid-treated seeds further established successfully. Thus, the results of the present study may be applicable in large-scale simple and low-cost mass propagation of the plant as a source of medicines and other purposes.

Zanthoxylum armatum is a medicinal plant found in the Himalayan range. The present study was carried out to unravel the antimicrobial activities of Z. armatum oleoresin against bacteria isolated from raw pork and chicken meat sold in Dharan submetropolitan city. Five bacterial species Salmonella enterica var Typhi, Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus were isolated. The antimicrobial activity of oleoresin extracted from Z. armatum was tested by agar well diffusion method and MICs were compared with standard antibiotics against isolated bacteria. The MIC values of oleoresin were ranged from 25-75 μl/mL. Zone of inhibition for oleoresin extracted with acetone was 10 mm (25 μl/mL) against Shigella dysenteriae and Staphylococcus aureus, and 9.5mm (25 μl/mL) against Escherichia coli respectively. Zone of inhibition of oleoresin extracted with chloroform was 12 mm (25 μl/mL) and 11 mm (25 μl/mL) against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus respectively, that of oleoresin extracted with cyclohexane was 10mm(25 μl/mL and 50 μl/mL) against all the isolates, except Bacillus cereus. Zone of inhibition of oleoresin extracted with methanol was 10mm (25 μl/mL) and 9.5 cm (25 μl/mL) against Shigella dysenteriae and Bacillus cereus and Escherichia coli respectively. Zone of inhibition of oleoresin extracted with petroleum ether was 10 mm (25 μl/mL and (50 μl/mL) against Escherichia coli and all the isolates except Escherichia coli. Increasing oleoresin concentrations showed greater antimicrobial effect on the isolates. Bacillus cereus was most affected; comparatively, Salmonella enterica var Typhi was least affected by all the antibiotics.