The chemical composition of the essential oil obtained from the fruits of Pimpinella affinis Ledeb. (Apiaceae) was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) techniques. Twenty - four components were identified in the essential oil of P. affinis Ledeb., whose major constituents were geijerene (17.68%), limonene (12.86%), pregeijerene (9.92%), germacrene D (8.54%) and trans- β-ocimene (4.94%). The essential oil was evaluated for antibacterial and antifungal activities. The oil showed antimicrobial activity against all the tested microorganisms, excepted Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Maximum activity was observed against fungal microorganisms.

The leaves of Alternanthera sessilis (Linn.) R.Br.ex DC (Family Amaranthaceae) were exhaustively extracted by soxhlet apparatus with different solvents like, petroleum ether (40-60ºC), chloroform, acetone, methanol and distilled water in ascending order of the polarity. All the five extracts were subjected to antimicrobial screening by using the cup plate and turbidimetric methods. The chloroform extract among all five extracts showed maximum zone of inhibition and significant MIC values in above two methods respectively. Hence chloroform extract was taken for the screening of wound healing activity and models adopted for wound healing activity were, incision, excision and granuloma studies. The chloroform extract of leaves of Alternanthera sessilis at a dose of 200 µg/mL (orally) in all models showed significant results. Contraction of wound area (P < 0.005) at 16 ^th day, time for complete epithelization in 16 days (P < 0.0001), and scar area after complete epithelization was found to be 33.2 ± 0.0730 (P < 0.0008) in excision wound model, wound breaking strength 388 ± 5.85 grams (P < 0.0001) in incision wound model, granuloma dry weight 47.7 ± 2.29, granuloma breaking strength 247 ± 10.2 (P < 0.022) in granuloma studies. All the results were significant for different parameters in wound healing activity when compared with control group. Presence of sterols in chloroform extract was also confirmed by preliminary phytochemical investigation, TLC and HPTLC methods.

The extracts of flowers of Punica granatum (Linn). (N.O. Family Punicaceae) were investigated for analgesic activity in mice using hot plate method. The flowers of Punica granatum (Linn) were collected from the local market of Mumbai, Maharashtra and were in a dried condition. The dried powdered flowers (500 gm) were extracted in a soxhlet apparatus by using different solvents. Mice weighing 15-25 gm were taken for the experiment. The reaction time of animals in all the groups was noted at 30, 60 and 120 min after drug administration. All data were analyzed with Student-t test. The various extract of the flowers of Punica granatum (Linn) showed significant analgesic activity at a dose of 50 mg/kg body weight. A maximum analgesic activity was found at 60 min, after drug administration, which was equivalent to the standard drug used as morphine sulphate.

Traditional system of medicine recommends various hepatoprotective agents and preparations to treat hepatic disorders. Polyherbal formulations F1 and F2 were developed for treatment of liver disorders by exploiting the knowledge of traditional system of medicine and evaluated for hepatoprotective activity using acute liver toxicity models of CCl ₄ and Paracetamol induced liver damage in rats. The rats were monitored for morphological changes in liver, biochemical parameter Serum Glutamate Oxaloacetate Transaminase, Serum Glutamate Pyruvate Transaminase, Serum Alkaline Phosphatase, and Serum bilirubin, histopathological studies, and pentobarbitone sleeping time. Both of these formulations F1 and F2 showed significant hepatoprotective activity at dose of 400 mg/kg, which was comparable to silymarin at 6 mg/kg. Formulations F1 and F2 are effective both as prophylactic and therapeutic in experimental liver damage. Biochemical parameters showed better results for formulation F2 but morphological, pentobarbitone sleeping time and hisptopathological observation were similar for both the groups.

Administration of Aloe vera extract to swiss albino mice (300 mg/kg i.p.) daily for five days, significantly (P < 0.01) increases the total white blood cells count. Further, it increases humoral immune response, as demonstrated from the increase in plaque-forming cells in the spleen and circulating antibody titre.

The present study was designed to evaluate the antimicrobial and analgesic activities of pet ether, chloroform, methanol and water extracts of the bark of Aporosa lindleyana plant belonging to Euphorbiaceae family. Antibacterial activity has been carried out using cup-plate method and reported in millimeters. All the extracts showed moderate to very good activity against bacteria Bacillus subtilus, Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Klebsiella pneumonia and compared with the standard drug Tetracycline. Antifungal activity has been studied on the organisms such as Pencilleum chrysozenous, Candida albicans, Aspergilus niger and Trichoderma vridar and compared with the standard drug Fluconazole. Analgesic activity has been carried out on Swiss albino male mice by abdominal constriction method. All the extracts showed moderate analgesic activity.

Tribulus terrestris in India is recommended as diuretic, demulcent and aphrodisiac while in traditional Chinese medicines it is used to calm the liver. Currently male impotency is being cured using saponins from T. terrestris of Bulgarian origin. The change in therapeutic practices with geoclimatic regions have been scientifically elaborated by using the molecular marker techniques, for proper chemo type selection and standardization of herb to fulfill the therapeutic requirement based on quality, quantity of content and efficacy, for targeted therapy and production of quality products with finger prints as claimed in the product.

In acid - base titrations, indicators are used to show sharp color change at intervals of pH. Natural pigments in plants are highly colored substances and may show color changes with variation of pH. An attempt has been made to investigate the indicator activity of methanolic extract of flower pigments and to replace synthetic indicators as they have certain disadvantages like chemical pollution, availability problems and high cost. Methanolic extract of Rosa indica (L) from family Rosaceae and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (L) from family Malvaceae gives sharp and intense color change as compared to phenolphthalein and methyl orange. Herbal indicators are evaluated by using strong acid - strong base, strong acid - weak base, weak acid - strong base, and weak acid - weak base. In all these titrations the extract was found to be very useful and accurate for indicating the equivalence point (neutralization point). From photochemical investigation and qualitative chemical tests for Rosa indica and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis shows presence of anthocyanins; which are the pigmented flavonoids; which may be the reason for its activity as an indicator. Apart from the above advantages the isolation of pure compounds possessing indicator's properties help to know the mechanism by which they shows indicator's properties and new theories of indicators could be established.

Tridax procumbens is a widely occurring medicinal herb used by ethnomedical practitioners. With increased use of chemicals and alcohol besides growing incidence of viruses and autoimmune diseases, the incidence of liver injury is growing for which conventional drugs used for treatment are often inadequate. Various models are adopted in pharmological studies for inducing hepatitis/ liver injury similar to those observed in human viral hepatitis, diabetes and oxidative stress. D-galactosamine with lipopolysacchride (LPS), carbontetrachloride (CCl ₄ ) and paracetamol intoxication, diabetes induced with alloxan are widely used on rodents for this purpose. In vitro studies on Tridax procumbens (TP) revealed the anti-oxidant potential of the herb with chloroform fraction of the ethanolic extract showing maximum activity. It is also reported to possess anti-oxidant minerals such as iron, magnesium, copper and zinc. In vivo studies on rodents on the anti-oxidant potential of TP induced through LPS, CCl _4, alloxan and paracetamol intoxication induced hepatitis confirmed the results from in vitro studies as a potential anti-hepatotoxic herb.

The World Health Organization estimates that a staggering two billion people harbor parasitic worm infections. Parasitic worms also infect livestock and crops, affecting food production with a resultant economic impact. Despite this prevalence of parasitic infections, the research on anthelmintic drug is poor. As per WHO, only few drugs are frequently used in the treatment of helminthes in human beings. Anthelmintics from the natural sources may play a key role in the treatment of these parasite infections. In view of this, an attempt has been made to study the anthelmintic activity of roots of Ficus benghalensis. In this study, methanolic, aqueous, chloroform, petroleum ether extracts were used and studied for paralysis and death of earthworm. All the extracts were found not only to paralyze (Vermifuge) but also to kill the earthworms (Vermicidal). The aqueous and methanolic extract was found to be more effective to execute the earthworm.

A simple sensitive HPTLC method developed for the determination of bacoside A in the plant Bacopa monnieri extracts. The stationary phase was precoated silica gel GF254. The mobile phase used was dichloromethane: methanol: water (4.5: 1.0: 0.1 v/v/v). The plate was scanned and quantified at 225 nm for bacoside A. The method was validated in terms of linearity, accuracy and specificity. The proposed HPTLC method provides a faster and cost effective qualitative control for routine analysis of bacoside A in extracts containing Bacopa monnieri saponins.

Context: Catharanthus roseus (periwinkle) is an important medicinal plant, mentioned in Ayurveda, an ancient Indian Sanskrit literature. The plant is selected to evaluate the possibility for novel pharmaceuticals since most of the bacterial pathogens are developing resistance against currently available antibiotics. Aims: To determine the antibacterial activity of crude extracts from different parts of Catharanthus roseus against several bacterial species of clinical significance. Materials and Methods: Extraction of each plant part in appropriate solvent followed by evaluation of antibacterial activity by agar well diffusion assay against a total of six bacterial stains. Further, minimum inhibitory concentration(s) was evaluated for active crude extracts. Results: Data indicated that the pattern of inhibition depends largely upon the extraction procedure, the plant part used for extraction, state of plant part (fresh or dry), solvent used for extraction and the microorganism tested. Dry powder extracts of all plant parts demonstrated more antibacterial activity than extracts prepared from fresh parts. Furthermore, extracts prepared from leaves were shown to have better efficacy than stem, root, and flower extracts. Organic extracts provided more potent antibacterial activity as compared to aqueous extracts. Among all the extracts, the ethanolic extract was found to be most active against almost all the bacterial species tested. Hot water and cold water extracts were completely inactive. Gram-positive bacteria were found more sensitive than Gram-negative bacteria. Conclusions: The study promises an interesting future for designing potentially active antibacterial agents from Catharanthus roseus.

Plectranthus amboinicus (Lour) Spreng belonging to the family Lamiaceae commonly known as Karpuravalli, Omavalli in Tamil, Patta ajavayin, Patharcur in Hindi, Country borage in English is a large succulent aromatic perennial herb. It is highly aromatic pubescent herb with distinctive smelling leaves. The plant is distributed throughout in India, cultivated in the gardens. The leaves of this plant have been used in malarial fever, hepatopathy, renal and vesical calculi, cough, chronic asthma, hiccough, bronchitis, anthelmintic, colic and convulsions. This paper deals with the micro morphological studies carried out on the leaves of Plectranthus amboinicus one of the WHO accepted parameter for identification of medicinal plants. For the better understanding of structural details Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) also employed.