Phytochemical Profiling Of Commercially Important South African Plants

Phytochemical Profiling of Commercially Important South African Plants comprises a carefully selected group of plant species that are of interest to researchers and industry partners who would like to investigate the commercialization of plant species. The book presents 25 botanicals selected based on commercial relevance. For each of the species, the following topics are covered: botanical description and distribution, phytochemistry (including chemical structures), HPTLC fingerprint analysis, UPLC analysis, and GC analysis (the latter only in the case of essential oil-bearing species). Using standard methodology, high-level chromatographic fingerprints have been developed for better understanding. Different methods are succinctly summarized allowing for the rapid identification of botanical raw materials and formulated consumer products. This book will be extremely valuable to researchers in the field who wish to rapidly identify the constituents and for those who want to prepare formulations of plant material for commercial applications. This work will also be a valuable resource in the field of pharmacognosy. Comprehensive chemical profiling of each species Fingerprints developed for non-volatile and volatile constituents Methods succinctly summarized to ensure reproducibility

The year 2022 has been declared by the United Nations as the “International Year of Basic Sciences for Sustainable Development”. Sustainable development is focused on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. These require the use of basic sciences. This edited book (volume 1) is a collection of twelve invited and peer-reviewed contributions from chemistry, materials science, energy applications, and artificial intelligence.

Plant kingdom represents a vast emporium of untapped medicinal potential and play a vital role for the development of new drugs. The medicinal value of drug plants is due to the presence of some chemical compounds in the plant tissue that produce a definite physiological action on human body. Early societies learned through trial and error that many plants contained substances with significant curative properties and over the years the natural products became used in more refined ways leading ultimately to the use of pure single component "active ingredient" as drugs. However, the demands of modern medicine requires the evaluation of these plant bioactives using scientific methodologies and assays in order to gauge their potential in the management of the disease. Therefore, extracts and biomolecules with promising activity are unscrupulously screened for efficacy in order to determine if these products have a potential for commercial development. The present book "Bioactive Phytochemicals: Perspectives for Modern Medicine Vol. 1" presents the vast body of research on the subject and includes fifteen research and review communications written by eminent scientists and researchers from India, Brazil, China, Japan, Maxico, Singapore and South Africa and includes topics like - Bioactive pregnanes and cardenolides from Nerium olander; Chemical characteristics and health promoting potentials of flavonoids in the management of diabetes; Limonene: A systematic overview for its chemistry and bioactivity; Phytochemicals against liver disease I: Recent progress in the treatment of AFLD and NAFLD by natural drug products and their active chemical entities, in China and other countries; Phytochemicals against liver disease II: Recent progress in the treatment of liver fibrosis by natural drug products and their active chemical entities, in China and other countries; Anti-allergic leads from Indian medicinal plant; Essential oils from Brazilian Amazonia; Phytochemical and pharmacological profile of plants belonging to Strychnos genus; Phytochemicals as natural antimicrobials; Biomedical potentials of filamentous marine cyanobacterial natural products; Natural bioactive compound from marine plants with anticancer potential; The lauraceae alkaloids; Phytochemical and pharmacological profile of Lepidium sativum Linn.; Chemistry and pharmacology of selected Asian and American medicinal species of Justicia; Biological activities of Anoectochilus formosanus Hayat and its active component. We hope that this volume shall generate further database and interest for the benefit of academicians, researchers and scientists working on bioactive phytochemicals who shall find the compendium very useful and indispensable in their relevant research pursuits.

Medicinal plants are important and valuable natural resources. South Africa is well-endowed with very diverse flora and fauna that include a considerable number of medicinal plant species. Most medicinal plants have gained popularity for the treatment or prevention of various ailments. Ginger species (Zingiber officinale and Siphonochilus aethiopicus) are essential natural resources, which provide many useful products for use in food as a spice or as medicine. The two species contain beneficial secondary metabolites useful for treating many diseases and numerous digestive imbalances such as indigestion, vomiting, heartburn, diarrhoea and pregnancy-related nausea. However, the role of different agronomic practices such as irrigation, water stress and nutrient management are crucial for enhancing the yield and quality of ginger species. Due to climate change, rainfall is often less while more erratic, putting more pressure on irrigation resources in agriculture to sustain or even increase food production for a growing population. The major plant factors negatively affected by water limitations are plant growth, quality and crop yield. The second most constraining factor in plant growth and quality is the lack of plant nutrients. Macronutrients, such as N, P and K are most important in plants to complete their life cycle and play a significant role in the growth and development of plants. This study investigated the growth, yield and phytochemical profiling of two ginger species under different maximum allowable depletion levels of soil water content and nutrient management. The soil water study was conducted under a rain-shelter at the Experimental Farm on the Hillcrest campus of the University of Pretoria, South Africa. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with two factors (ginger species and water regimes) and three replicates per treatment. The two experimental factors included the two species of ginger (commercial and African ginger) and four water levels (irrigated as soon as 20-25% of available soil water (ASW) was depleted, 40-45% of ASW depleted, 60-65% of ASW depleted and 80-85% of ASW depleted). Growth and development parameters such as height, leaf number and stem number were evaluated and varied between species and irrigation treatments. Irrigation treatment effects on plant growth and development were dependent on plant species. Leaf area index and fractional interception of photosynthetically active radiation (FIpar) values were higher in African ginger than commercial ginger in both seasons. Scanning electron microscopy images showed that both ginger species had more stomatal pores and open stomata under well-watered than stressed conditions. The study demonstrated that fresh and dry yields were higher for commercial ginger, compared to African ginger. The fresh and dry matter yields for severely water stressed plants were higher for commercial ginger than for African ginger. Water use efficiency in terms of fresh commercial ginger yield was highest for the moderately water-stressed treatment. The severely water-stressed irrigation regime (i.e. 80-85 MAD) resulted in higher production of total flavonoid content, phenolic content and increased antioxidant activity in both species.

The book provides valuable information on wild plants and their ethnopharmacological properties, discussion on ethnobotany, phytotherapy, diversity, chemical and pharmacological properties including antifungal, anti-inflammatory and antiprotozal properties. The chapters include a wide range of case studies, giving updated evidence on importance of wild plant resources from different countries including Nepal, India, Brazil, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Egypt, Peru, etc. In addition, some specific species are used to explain their potential properties. Discussing traditional usage and pharmacological properties of wild plants, this book is entirely different from other related publications and useful for the researchers working in the areas of conservation biology, botany, ethnobiology, ethnopharmacology, policy making, etc.

Evidence-Based Validation of Herbal Medicines brings together current thinking and practice in the areas of characterization and validation of natural products. This book reviews all aspects of evaluation and development of medicines from plant sources, including their cultivation, collection, phytochemical and phyto-pharmacological evaluation, and therapeutic potential. Emphasis is placed on describing the full range of evidence-based analytical and bio-analytical techniques used to characterize natural products, including –omic technologies, phyto-chemical analysis, hyphenated techniques, and many more. Includes state-of-the-art methods for detecting, isolating, and performing structure elucidation by degradation and spectroscopic techniques Covers biosynthesis, synthesis, and biological activity related to natural products Consolidates information to save time and money in research Increases confidence levels in quality and validity of natural products

Cassia is an indigenous plant in Africa, Latin America, Northern Australia and Southeast Asia. Several Cassia species are of high commercial and medicinal significance since they are used as spices and in traditional medicines. Currently plants from genus Cassia is in great demand due to their immense medicinal properties. Cassia species have various pharmacological activities such as antibacterial, analgesic, antiinflammatory, antiarthritic, hepatoprotective, antitumor, antifertility, antifungal, antioxidant, antileishmaniatic, antimicrobial, CNS and hypoglycaemic activitiy. Different class of compounds reported from Cassia species are anthraquinones, phenolics, flavonoids, chromenes, terpenes, proanthocyanidins, coumarins, chromones and lignans. The taxonomy and nomenclature of Cassia species are quite complex. It is very difficult to differentiate them due to their overlapping morphological characters and close similarities. This usually leads to misidentification and misinterpretation of the components. Features: Presents collection of Ayurvedic features and scientific evidence of most important medicinal plants of Cassia species Chemical signatures for identification of Cassia species Easy to use analytical procedure for quality control of Cassia species and its products.