eChapters

ABSTRACT

Boswellia serrata Roxb. ex Colebr. known as ’Indian Frankincense’ is a multiferous medicinal plants known for boswellic acid and it has application in traditional ayurvedic formulation. The plant possess anti-rheumatic, anti-pyretic, anti-cancerous, anti-inflammatory, anti-hyperlipidemic, anti-coronary, analgesic and hepatoprotective properties due to the presence of several loaded bioactive compounds such as α-amyrins, β-boswellic acid, acetyl-β-boswellic acid, 11-ketoβ-boswellic acid, acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid, tetracyclic triterpenoic acids and several others in minor quantities in different parts of plants. Mostly oleo-gum resin is usually used in Indian system of medicine, and acetyl-11-keto-β-boswellic acid (AKBA) is the most potent 5-lipoxygenase enzyme inhibitor responsible for inflammation, anti-cancer (G1 phase arrest) and other group of enzymes liable for allied activities. Besides, it yields essential oils and its major constituents are monoterpenoids such as pinene (2.05-64.7%), cisverbenol (1.97%), trans-pinocarveol (1.80%), borneol (1.78%), myrcene (1.71%), verbenone (1.71%), limonene (1.42%), thuja-2,4(10)-diene (1.18%) and p-cymene (1.0%). The copaene is the only sesquiterpene reported in minor quantities from essential oils of this species. Its essential show different actvities in relation to anti-cancer and antiinflammatory. From future perspectives, there is a need to carry out more research on its constituents for the development of value added products and drugs. Investigation on ecology and application of biotechnological intervention would helps in varities improvememnt, cultivation and conservation of this species.

ABSTRACT

Wetlands play an important role in provisioning of numerous goods and services for mankind. However, the type and the quantum of ecological services differs amongst wetlands. In the present study, we documented the various plant resources used by the riparian communities of two well-recognized wetlands, Dhir beel and Diplai beel, located in Brahmaputra Valley of Assam. The findings of study indicate that the riparian communities are dependent on wetlands for various purposes. The riparian communities uses 48 plant species as vegetables, fruits, fodder, fuel wood, medicine, roofing materials, craft making materials, bio-fertilizer and fish poisoning agent. Some of the plant species such as Enhydra fluctuans, Lasia spinosa, Colocasia esculenta, Diplazium esculentum, Ipomoea aquatica and Monocharia hastata aresold in the village market as local vegetables. The wetlands generate income for the riparian communities and save cashof many households settled plant near the wetland. Nevertheless, this study also revealed that some near the wetland resources are declining due to population pressure, encroachment near the wetlands, deforestation and over-exploitation of the wetland habitats for creation of many fishery ponds within the wetland and cultivation practices on wetland edges. The socio-economic condition, unemployment, easy accessibility and lack of alternativesources are plausibly themajor factors, whichare leading to the decline and depletion of the wetland resources. Therefore, appropriate management strategies are required for the conservation and the sustainable utilization of these plant resources.

ABSTRACT

Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth.is a perennial herbaceous plant species of the family Scrophulariaceae growing at high altitude regions of Himalayas, and recorded to have a wide application in Ayurvedic system of medicine known by the name of kutki. In traditional system, this plant species is used to cure disorders of liver, respiratory tract fever, dyspepsia, chronic diarrhea and scorpion sting. P. kurroa is a growing source of interest because of having number of interesting activities such as immnunomudulatory, hepatoprotective and anticancer, highly used by pharmaceutical companies for development of new molecules and herbal botanical formulations. It has been scientifically validated that this species is a repository of bioactive chemicals such as picrosides, kutkoside, and cucurbitacins isolated and characterized mainly from the roots of this plant. This communication deals with the chemistry and biological activities associated with its main chemical constituents, and can be helpful in development of new drug as medicine. This communication will provide a baseline information and useful tool for researchers who work on the area of natural products, and look for new direction in drug discovery.

ABSTRACT

Dermatology is the branch of medicine concerned with the diagnosis and treatment of skin disorders. Owing to the lack of proper hygiene and sanitation, incidence of skin diseases is a major health burden particularly in developing and under-developed countries. The study aimed at documenting the plants traditionally used to cure different types of dermatological disorders by the tribals and natives of district Udhampur. Ethnomedicinal data was collected by interviewing 91 infomants between the age group 26-89 years. Quantitative approaches were used to determine Use value (UV). The study revealed that a total of 64 plant species belonging to 59 genera and 43 families were used by the tribals and natives of district Udhampur for the treatment of 25 ailments of skin disorders. The most prevalent families were Asteraceae, Convolvulaceae, Rosaceae, Solanaceae and Euphorbiaceae. Majority of the taxa were growing in wild. Among the different plant parts used, leaf was the most frequently used. About 90% of medicinal preparations were applied topically. The most important medicinal species as per the use-value (UV) included Phyllanthus emblica, Aloe vera, Ficus carica, and Cannabis sativa. The present investigation may serve as a baseline data to initiate further research for the discovery of new bioactive compounds, thereby, providing important leads in the development of novel drugs for the treatment of such disorders.

ABSTRACT

The current paper discusses the diversity, distribution and commercial importance of Indian Magnolias. Globally, these species are found in tropical, subtropical and temperate forests of southeastern Asia and tropical America. In India, there are 25 species of Magnolias and most of them are distributed in Northeast India, with highest number in Assam. Of all the species, two (Magnolia gustavii and M. pleiocarpa) are critically endangered, one (M. pealiana) endangered, two (M. manii and M. nilagirica) vulnerable, nine least concern and ten data deficient at global level. The highly threatened nature of most of the magnolias species calls for their immediate conservation and protection measures. Members of this genus are known to be rich in a wide variety of biologically active compounds including alkaloids, flavonoids, lignans, neolignans and terpenoids. Many of the species have been found to possess potent procognitive activity, anti-oxidative, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-angiogenic, diuretic, anti-ulcer, analgesic, anti-helmintholytic, and anti-cancer activities. The species have huge economic potential and are used for a number of purposes including ornamental, medicinal, culinary, timber and joinery works.

ABSTRACT

Butea monosperma (Lam.) Taub, knownas ’Flameof the Forest’is used in Indian traditional system of medicine, such as Siddha Ayurveda, and Unani due to its medicinal properties. It is used in treatment of diabetes, diarrhoea, sore throat and reported to possess several biological activities such as anti-asthmatic, anti-diabetic, antifertility, anti-tumor and osteogenic. Recent studies revealed the phytochemicals responsible for osteogenic activity in the bark of B. monosperma. An ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method was developed for identification and simultaneous quantitation of bioactive compounds from B. monosperma. Validation of the developed method was performed according to international conference on harmonization guidelines. Quantitative interpretation showed significant variations in the content of bioactive compounds in different parts of the plant and samples collected from three geographical regions. Principal component analysis was also used to study the quantitative variations of markers.

ABSTRACT

Panax L. is an important medicinal plant species complex, which is commonly known as ginseng. Ginseng has high commercial value for itsginsenoside contents and is collected from the wildin the subtropical-temperate forests of north-eastern India. Taxonomy, ecology and phenology of five species of Panax found in north-eastern India viz., P. assamicus R. N. Banerjee, P. bipinnatifidus Seem., P. pseudoginseng Wall., P. variabilis J. Wenand P. sokpayensis Sharma& Pandit, have beendiscussed in this paper. The distribution of these species is restricted to the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim and Darjeeling HillsofWest Bengal.P. pseudoginseng hasextended distribution range in Nepal. P. variabilis was reported from Nagaland, which is a new record for India. All the species of Panax prefer shady and moist habitat. The species grow in the soil texture that ranges from loamy sand to sandy. The pH ranges from 4.3-7.1. The species is perennial and pereniates through its underground rhizome. The phenophase starts with emergence of seedlings in the late March and senescence takes place in the middle of October after seed setting. Monitoring of the populations of all Panax species revealed that the population size have decreased by 40-50% over a period of 10 years due to over-harvesting from the wild by the local people for its medicinal value. Sustainable use of rhizome and its cultivation practice need to be standardized to address the conservation issues related to the plant.

ABSTRACT

Grewia asiatica L. locally called ’Phalsa’ (Family Tiliaceae) is a multipurpose gregarious plants species native to Asian belts, grows profusely in tropical and subtropical forests. Plant yield berries rich in calories, proteins, carbohydrates, dietary fibers, vitamins, macro-and micro-nutrients such as calcium, phosphorus and sodium. Their parts can be used as herbal medicine for treatment of various diseases. Recently, CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine Jammu (IIIM) has developed and released a variety of this plant for rural upliftment and for development of value-added products such health drink and nutraceuticals. From its matured fruits of cultivated variety, a value added product called Shivalik Health Drink was developed by IIIM. For extension, agrotechnology of this plant has been transferred to various geographic regions of India such as Punjab, Rajasthan, Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh. This species prefers hardy and can be able to withstand in drought environment. For development of drugs and value added products, several therapeutic research works have been carried out which suggested that this plant species possess antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial, hepatoprotective, antifertility, antifungal, analgesic and antiviral activities. Further, there is a need to focus on biotechnological intervention with aim to develop seedless varieties and new nutraceutical products.

ABSTRACT

Zanthoxylum armatum DC. is a plant species belonging to flowering family Rutaceae which has medicinal application in traditional Ayurvedic system of medicine. It is characterized by trifoliolate leaves with leaf-stalk winged, branches with straight prickles, and fruits are small reddish brown. In India, tribal community used this species as carminative, dyspepsia, tooth curing, treating malaria fever, stomach pain and expelling roundworms. Chemistry indicates that Z. armatum is a repository of many chemical compounds such as alkaloids, flavonoids, sterols and triterpenoids. Zanthonitrile, berberine, α-sitosterol, armatamide, limonene and linalool are major constituents. Leaves and young shoots yield essential oils which act as anti-bacterial, antifungal and anthelminthics, and has tremendous potential in development of value added products. Volatile oils are active constituentsof linalool, limonene and ligan. Z. armatum has been declared as an endangered species as per International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources(IUCN) Red List category. Conservation practices needs to be adopted to conserve this valuable medicinal plant. There is a need to study on ecology, adaptive biology, chemistry and biotechnological intervention for future propagation and conservation of this medicinal plant species.

ABSTRACT

Dysoxylum binectariferum Hook.f. (Meliaceae) is phylogenetically related to the Ayurvedic plant D. malabaricum. D. binectariferum has been identified as an enriched source of rohitukine, an alkaloid. Two synthetic flavones, flavopiridol (Alvocidib; L868275; HMR-1275; NSC 649890 of Sanofi-Aventis + NCI) and P-276-00 (Piramal) are advanced in clinical trials for the treatment of cáncer. These two molecules are considered as potent Cdk inhibitors. Cdk has been discovered as a key regulator of cell cycle. Therefore, Cdk inhibitors or modulators are of great interest to explore as novel therapeutic agents. These two molecules can be considered as rohitukine inspired drugs since their stuructural novelity originated from a compaign to develop a route of total synthesis of rohitukine. Recently a semisynthetic derivative of rohitukine; IIIM-290 has been emerged as potential preclinical cyclin-dependent kinase (Cdk) inhibitor. Moreover, phytochemical investigation of D. binectariferum yielded dysoline a new region-isomer of rohitukine. Dysoline seems to be a potent inflammatory and cytotoxic compound. Similarly, camptothecine and 9-methoxycamptothecine were isolated from Dysoxylum binectariferum for the first time by bioassay-guided fractionation. Present chapter is reviewing some original work which were carried out at CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu, India. The present studies focused on the phytochemistry of Dysoxylum binectariferum; dysoline, camptothecin and 9-methoxycamptothecin and medcinal chemistry and preclinical evaluation of IIIM-290 a semi-sythestic derivative of rohitukine.

ABSTRACT

Drug discovery is the process to identify the active ingredients from traditional remedies as new candidate for medications. It involves the sources, identification of screening hits, medicinal chemistry and optimization of those hits to increase the affinity, potency, reduce the potential of side effects, increase the half life and oral bioavailability followed by clinical trials. While studying and screening the plant resourses of Himalaya, Colebrookea oppositifolia Sm. is identified as an important Heptoprotective Phytopharma plant. This is an important Indian medicinal plant of the family lamiaceae endemic to the Southeast Asia. The active ingredients of this species possess antimicrobial, antifungal and antioxidant properties as evident from experimentation which may be due to the high content of flavonoids and polyphenols as a major chemical constituents. In Ayurvedic traditional system of medicine, leaves of C. oppositifolia is used for the treatment of wounds and fractures, where as roots helps in curing epilepsy. Chemical investigations on the petroleum ether extract of the leavesof C.oppositifolia, some active molecules suchasn-triacontane, acetyl alcohol, 32-hydroxydotriacontyl ferulate, β-sitosterol and 5,6,7,42 -tetramethoxy flavones have been identified which has hepatoprotective properties as evident from biological investigation. Structures of these compounds were interpreted on the basis of spectral (IR, NMR, MS) data. While studying acute toxicity of these bioactive ingredients, the species can be classified as category V as per GHS of OECD test guidelines and principles of GLP. In the present communication, an attempt has been made to provide scientific data on biology, natural products, constituents of volatile oils, salient markers, medicinal chemistry, results showing hepatoprotective activity and future direction for research to be carried out on this plant species. It also provide data on lyophilized extract or at least one bioactive fraction obtained from leaves of C. oppositifolia and treatment of liver toxicity caused by the conditions hepatoprotective against alcohol induced and tetrachloride (CCl₄) models. The presented data will be helpful in future for drug discovery.

ABSTRACT

In Ayurvedic system of medicine, the word Astavarga represents eight endangered Himalayan herbs, which includes four orchids Habenaria intermedia D.Don, Platanthera edgeworthii Hook.f., Crepidium acuminatum D.Don, Malaxis muscifera Lindl., three liliaceae members (Lilium polyphyllum D.Don, Polygonatum verticillatum L.,Polygonatum cirrhifolium Wall.) and one zingiber (Roscoea purpurea Sm.). These herbs are popular in various ayurvedic formulations, as for instance, Chyawanprash which is well recognized for strengthening vital force to the body, help in cell regeneration, and build immune system. These plants are repository of various bioactive ingredients such as diosgenin, β-sitosterol, catechin, p-coumaric acid and many more which shows positive biological functions such as anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, antiinflammatory and other associated health promoting activities. In traditional system, different parts of these plants are used for different purpose, and mainly rhizomes are used as herbal formulations. In terms of ecology, these plants are growing wild in Himalaya belts between the elevation ranges of 1200-4000m above mean sea level. Subtropical, temperate and alpine environment provide condusive adaptation and habitat for these species to grow and florish. Due to lack of proper documentation and certification, the identification of most of the species became difficult and illusory. Considering the medicinal importance and endangerment status, attempts have been made in the present communication to provide a comprehensive account on phytochemistry and pharmacological activities associated with astavarga species. The data presented in this communication will put door open for various research activities related to discovery of new drugs and nutraceutical products for human welfare in days to come.

ABSTRACT

Plants play an important role in human survival and contribute to sustainable development as they are the major source of different bioactive compounds such as taxol, digoxin, reserpine and vinblastin used directly as drug and medicines for human diseases. As plants are basic need and requirement for living, they are used as herbal remedy, and known to produce lead compounds for semi synthesis of higher activity or lower toxicity. Indian Himalaya regions are repository of more than 8,000 plants species and out of which 50% are endemic and unique due to thepresence of morphological and chemical structure of peculiar characters. Most of the plant used in Indian traditional system of medicines such as Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha or Amchi described for different formulations and ethnomedicinal applications had distributional range restricted to the hills and the valleys of Himalayas. Hence, in this communication, an attempt has been made to present economic plants of Himalayan origin used as ethnomedicine, wild food plants as vegetables, herbal teas, homemade soups, wild salads, chutney, underground snacks, alcoholic drinks, nutrients as burnt powder and other human usages. Besides, this unique Himalayan plant has potential to be used as wild source for the development of new drugs and medicines which can sustain future to human survival and had the ability to produce medicine against deadly diseases. It is estimated that 80% of the world population uses traditional medicine made from herbal botanicals to cure disease and illness. It is of the record that 122 compounds obtained from ethnomedicinal plants is globally used as drugs. This indicates that tribal knowledge on plants and drug discovery cannot be separated, and newdrugsfor uniquedeadly diseases can be discovered only from ethnobotanical leads. More than 5,000 species reported from Indian Himalayas are of ethnobotanical values and they are used as medicine or wild food by different tribal communities. It can be concluded that Himalayan tribals are endowed with strong culture associated with botanicals and have age-old tradition with respect to the use of wild plants as food and medicine. Plants provide a real substitute for the primary health care systems in hills and valleys, and definitely going to serve as jewel for mankind in near future to come.