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Fast, simple, and environmentally friendly gold nanoparticles (Au-NPs) capped and stabilized with black cumin (Bunium persicum) seed alcohol extract are reported. The aqueous gold ions (Au3+) were treated with B. persicum (BP) seed extract, which resulted in a rapid color change to red, indicating the synthesis of Au-NPs. UV-Vis spectroscopy, FTIR, SEM, energy dispersive X-ray (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques were used to further characterize the Au-NPs. Its stability was assessed against various pH levels and sodium chloride levels (NaCl), different salts of same concentration as well as at a range of temperature (30–100°C). The UV-Vis spectrum in the Au-NPs produced a 540 nm plasmon surface resonance, and a 25–50 nm range of particulates was shown in the SEM analysis. In addition, the FTIR spectra confirmed the inclusion in the capping and decrease of Au-NPs of amines, amide groups, and alcohols. The EDX analysis confirmed the presence of element Au. Furthermore, Au-NPs were tested for enzyme inhibition and antibacterial and antifungal activities and showed remarkable response. These findings have concluded that BP seed extract is an effective bio-reductant of gold nanoparticle synthesis, which can be further applied in different biomedical and pharmaceutical industries.

Currently, nanotechnology is gaining massive attention compared to conventional methods as the biosynthesis of plant-based nanoparticles is considered safe, effective, and ecofriendly. Therefore, keeping in view the importance of nanotechnology, the present study was designed to synthesize, characterize, and evaluate the biological effectiveness of saffron stigma-based gold nanoparticles (SS-AuNPs) for their in vitro and in vivo biological properties. These gold nanoparticles were characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The highest antibacterial effect was observed by the saffron extract against Escherichia coli (22 mm). SS-AuNPs significantly inhibited the activity of enzyme urease (54.98%) and CA-II (64.29%). However, the nonsignificant inhibitory effect was observed in the case of α-chymotrypsin. Maximum analgesic (84.98%) and antiinflammatory (88.98%) effects were observed for SS-AuNPs (10 mg/kg). Similarly, SS-AuNPs demonstrated a significant (P < 0.01) sedative effect at all tested doses.

The current study aims at exploring enzyme inhibition of four species of medicinal herbs, namely Senna bicapsularis, Thevetia peruviana, Nerium oleander and Vinca major. Plant selection was done on the basis of their therapeutic uses by local practitioners. The crude methanolic extracts of these plants were tested for their α-glycosidase and urease enzyme inhibition potential. The observed urease inhibitory potential for the crude extract of S. bicapsularis, T. peruviana and N. oleander were 8.3 ± 0.33 μg, 6.98 ± 0.98 μg and 9.56 ± 1.43 μg, respectively while the V. major did not show any inhibition. In addition, the IC50 value for Thiourea was 22.3 ± 1.14 μg. The crude extracts of S. bicapsularis, T. peruviana, N. oleander, V. major were shown to inhibit α-glycosidase activity with an IC50 value of 630.3 ± 0.03 μg, 700.7 ± 2.43 μg, 430.4 ± 3.97 μg, and the standard (acarbose) 880 ± 1.03 μM, respectively. Based on the TLC profile, the extract of S. bicapsularis was subjected to column chromatography and the major component named rhein (1) was identified. Compound 1 exhibited excellent urease and α-glycosidase inhibitory activity with an IC50 value of 7.4 ± 0.32 and 622.3 ± 1.03 μM, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prunus dulcis has been known as a source of nutrients in many traditional foods and as a source of important biologically active compounds in traditional medicines. The present study describes the determination of total polyphenolic compounds, total flavonoids and GC-MS analysis of hexane and chloroform fractions of 70% ethanol extract of whole almond shelled seed. Antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of various extracts of the nuts were evaluated. Folin-Ciocalteau procedure resulted in total polyphenolic compounds as 0.008 mg (gallic acid equivalents)/mg of the dried extract and amount of total flavonoids contents yielded were 0.001 mg (quercetin equivalents)/mg of the nuts dried extracts. GC-MS analysis of the hexane and chloroform fractions yielded a number of volatile constituents, resulting in highest amounts of 6-Octadecenoic acid and 1,1,3,3-Tetramethyl cyclopentane as 37.52% and 24.54% in hexane and chloroform fractions respectively. Antioxidant activity using the DPPH radical scavenging assay resulted in very low activity in all the extracts. Only n-butanol extract showed mild activity against the gram negative E. coli with inhibition zone diameter 8 mm while rest of samples did not show any activity against any microbial strains under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The root of Geranium collinum Steph is known in Tajik traditional medicine for its hepatoprotective, antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory therapeutic effects. The present study was conducted to evaluate of potential antidiabetic, antioxidant activities, total polyphenolic and flavonoid content from the different extracts (aqueous, aqueous-ethanolic) and individual compounds isolated of the root parts of G. collinum. The 50% aqueous-ethanolic extract possesses potent antidiabetic activity, with IC50 values of 0.10 μg/mL and 0.09 μg/mL for the enzymes protein-tyrosine phosphatase (1B PTP-1B) and α-glucosidase, respectively. Phytochemical investigations of the 50% aqueous-ethanolic extract of G. collinum, led to the isolation of ten pure compounds identified as 3,3',4,4'-tetra-O-methylellagic acid (1), 3,3'-di-O-methylellagic acid (2), quercetin (3), caffeic acid (4), (+)-catechin (5), (-)-epicatechin (6), (-)-epigallocatechin (7), gallic acid (8), β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (9), and corilagin (10). Their structures were determined based on 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometric analyses. Three isolated compounds exhibited strong inhibitory activity against PTP-1B, with IC50 values below 0.9 μg/mL, more effective than the positive control (1.46 μg/mL). Molecular docking analysis suggests polyphenolic compounds such as corilagin, catechin and caffeic acid inhibit PTP-1B and β-sitosterol-3-O-β-D-gluco-pyranoside inhibits α-glucosidase. The experimental results suggest that the biological activity of G. collinum is related to its polyphenol contents. The results are also in agreement with computational investigations. Furthermore, the potent antidiabetic activity of the 50% aqueous-ethanolic extract from G. collinum shows promise for its future application in medicine. To the best of our knowledge, we hereby report, for the first time, the antidiabetic activity of G. collinum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Matricaria chamomilla is of medicinal importance and has been used for its various pharmacological activities against different diseases due to the presence of polyphenolic compounds especially flavonoids and their glycosides. Flowers of the chamomile plant were studied for the quantification of total polyphenolic compounds and flavonoids aglycon. Total polyphenolic compounds obtained were 83.22mg as gallic acid equivalents/g of plant material; while for the determination of flavonoids aglycon the plant material was subjected to acid hydrolysis before quantification through HPLC-PDA. Results showed that luteolin, quercetin, apigenin, isorhamnetin and kaempferol were quantified. Apigenin was found in highest concentration (0.071mg/ml) while amounts of the rest of the flavonoids quantified are: luteolin (0.012mg/ml), quercetin (0.032mg/ml), kaempferol (0.001mg/ml) and isorhamnetin (0.023 mg/ml). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flavonoids have been of considerable importance and interest because of their medicinal activity. Responding to their numerous health benefits, a comparative study on the quantitative determination of total polyphenolic compounds and flavonoids was carried out in Achillea millefolium and Equisetum arvense. Total polyphenolic compounds were quantified by Folin-Ciocalteau method using different solvents in order to prove their extraction efficiency. Focus within total polyphenolic quantification study was placed on the traditional reflux and solvents used were: water, 100% acetone, 100% ethanol, 80% ethanol, 50% methanol and 70% methanol. In order to make flavonoids free from glycosidic moiety for quantification, hydrolysis was performed in 50% MeOH at 90°C using 6 M HCl concentration. Reverse phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) in gradient elution mode at 50°C using Hypersil BDS (RP-18) column was employed for the separation of flavonoids. Mobile phase used consisted of different combinations of water-methanol-tetrahydrofuran-phosphoric acid. Flavonoids quantified were luteolin, quercetin, apigenin, isorhamnetin and kaempferol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quantification of the four flavonoids, namely, luteolin, kaempferol, diosmetin, and chrysosplenetin, has been performed for the first time in 80% ethanolic extract of Dracocephalum heterophyllum B. through HPLC coupled to UV detector after optimization of extracting solvent and chromatographic conditions. Total flavonoids quantified were 0.324 mg/mL of the extract. HPLC analysis delivered contents of the luteolin, kaempferol, diosmetin, and chrysosplenetin as 0.08%, 0.14%, 0.28%, and 0.79% of the dried extract, respectively. LOD (%) values calculated were 0.04, 0.03, 0.03, and 0.08 and LOQ (%) values were 0.08, 0.12, 0.11, and 0.28 for luteolin, kaempferol, diosmetin, and chrysosplenetin, respectively. The recovery percentages for these flavonoids were within the acceptable range of 95% to 105%. Standard deviation and %RSD were calculated for each target analytes individually in extract for determining the reproducibility and accuracy of the method. In no case the %RSD was higher than 1 taking retention time as a factor while in the case of area under the curve maximum %RSD was noted in the case of diosmetin as 2.85. From our literature review regarding the plant species under study, it appears that these flavonoids have not been quantified before and are reported for the first time in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Essential oil extracted from the fresh leaves of Thuja occidentalis were evaluated for its chemical composition employing GC-MS. Total of twenty nine components were identified and determined quantitatively using the area normalization procedure. Alpha-pinene and (+)-4-carene were found in high amount with a percentage concentration of 54.78 and 11.28 respectively. Other compounds which yielded appreciable amounts are: alpha-cedrol (6.87%), terpinolene (5.88%), p-menth-1-en-8-ol acetate (5.21%), beta-myrcene (4.04%), beta-pinene (2.26%), germacrene D (1.72%), sabinene (1.65%) and D-Limonene (1.62%). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Juglans regia leaves have been widely used in traditional medicines because of its antimicrobial, antihelmintic, astringent, keratolytic, antidiarrhoeal, hypoglycaemic, depurative, tonic, carminative activity. Total polyphenolic compounds were determined using the Folin-Ciocalteau method and flavonoids were quantified using the HPLC-PDA after the hydrolysis of the plant material with HCl. Among the flavonoids myricetin, quercetin, apigenin and kaempferol were found in appreciable amount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of raw materials and final products need reliable methods for the standardization of natural product drugs. Legal guideline also emphasizes on the qualitative and quantitative analyses of the plant constituents in an herbal product. In this study, thin layer chromatography (TLC) and amino acid analyzer was used for the determination of amino acids in plant extracts. Samples for this study were standards and aqueous extracts from Althaea officinalis, Matricaria chamomilla and Taraxacum officinale. Different amino acids in the extracts were detected through TLC. An automatic amino acid analyzer was used for the quantification of amino acids in the plant extracts under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pharmaceutical industry requires reliable and less time consuming procedures for the quality control analysis of raw materials and finished products. The study was focused on thin layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography (GC) and matrix free material enhanced laser desorption ionization time of flight mass spectrometry (mf-MELDI-MS). Standards and microwave assisted water extracts from Achillea milleffolium (herb), Althaea officinalis (roots), Equisetum arvense (herb), Juglans regia (leaves), Matricaria chamomella (flowers) and Taraxacum officinale (herb) were the samples used for this study. The presence of mono- (fructose and glucose) and disaccharide (sucrose) in all the plants under study was proved through the TLC analysis. These results were confirmed by the Mf-MELDI-MS experiments. Gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) confirmed the data obtained via TLC and mf-MELDI-MS, delivering additionally quantified values, but needed a long time. A carbohydrate of higher oligomerization degree could not be found. Among the six plants, glucose was found in highest concentration in Taraxacum officinale. Fructose is present in appreciable quantity in Matricaria chamomella while Althaea officinalis has the highest amount of sucrose among the plants under study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dihydropyrazole (1-22) derivatives were synthesized from already synthesized chalcones. The structures of all of the synthesized compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis and various spectroscopic techniques. Furthermore, the synthesized compounds were screened against α amylase as well as investigated for antioxidant activities. The synthesized compounds demonstrate good to excellent antioxidant activities with IC 50 values ranging between 30.03 and 913.58 μM. Among the 22 evaluated compounds, 11 compounds exhibit excellent activity relative to the standard ascorbic acid IC 50 = 287.30 μM. Interestingly, all of the evaluated compounds show good to excellent α amylase activity with IC 50 values lying in the range between 0.5509 and 810.73 μM as compared to the standard acarbose IC 50 = 73.12 μM. Among the investigated compounds, five compounds demonstrate better activity compared to the standard. In order to investigate the binding interactions of the evaluated compounds with amylase protein, molecular docking studies were conducted, which show an excellent docking score as compared to the standard. Furthermore, the physiochemical properties, drug likeness, and ADMET were investigated, and it was found that none of the compounds violate Lipiniski's rule of five, which shows that this class of compounds has enough potential to be used as a drug candidate in the near future., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2023 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Energy crises and environmental pollution are two serious threats to modern society. To overcome these problems, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets were fabricated and functionalized with SnO 2 nanoparticles to produce H 2 from water splitting and degrade 2-chlorophenol under visible light irradiation. The fabricated samples showed enhanced photocatalytic activities for both H 2 evolution and pollutant degradation as compared to bare g-C 3 N 4 and SnO 2 . These enhanced photoactivities are attributed to the fast charge separation as the excited electrons transfer from g-C 3 N 4 to the conduction band of SnO 2 . This enhanced charge separation has been confirmed by the photoluminescence spectra, steady state surface photovoltage spectroscopic measurement, and formed hydroxyl radicals. It is believed that this work will provide a feasible route to synthesize photocatalysts for improved energy production and environmental purification., (Copyright © 2020 Zada, Khan, Qureshi, Liu and Wang.)

Essential oil extracted from the fresh leaves of Thuja occidentalis were evaluated for its chemical composition employing GC-MS. Total of twenty nine components were identified and determined quantitatively using the area normalization procedure. Alpha-pinene and (+)-4-carene were found in high amount with a percentage concentration of 54.78 and 11.28 respectively. Other compounds which yielded appreciable amounts are: alpha-cedrol (6.87%), terpinolene (5.88%), p-menth-1-en-8-ol acetate (5.21%), beta-myrcene (4.04%), beta-pinene (2.26%), germacrene D (1.72%), sabinene (1.65%) and D-Limonene (1.62%).

Phytochemical investigations of ethyl acetate-soluble part of the aerial part of Hypericum scabrum L. delivered eight pure phenolic compounds 1-8. The pure compounds were identified through physico-chemical, NMR (1D, 2D) and mass spectrometric studies as: 3-8''-bisapigenin (1), quercetin (2), quercetin-3-O-α-l-arabinofuranoside (3), quercetin-3-O-α-l-rhamnoside (4), quercetin-3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (5), quercetin-3-O-β-d-galactopyranoside (6), (-)-epicatechin (7), (+)-catechin (8). Total polyphenolic compounds and total flavonoids contents were determined in the extract as 0.107 mg∙mg-1 and 0.023 mg∙mg-1 of the dried extract, respectively. Antioxidant activity using DPPH free radical scavenging assay delivered very strong activity for compounds 2 and 5, 6 and crude extract 10. Protein tyrosine phosphatase 1B (PTP-1B) inhibition experiment of isolated compounds and crude extracts resulted in significant inhibition activity for samples 2, 7a, 8a, 11 and 12 with IC50 values ranging from 1.57 to 2.91 µM. Antimicrobial activity of the pure compounds and extracts produced average results against Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli and Candida albicans strains. From our literature survey, it appears that all pure compounds except 2 were isolated and reported for the first time in H. scabrum.