Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

Myrtaceae – Volatile oils, Fruits and Biopesticides Distinguishing characters gland-dotted, coriaceous leaves with intramarginal vein, large number of stamens (may be due ti splitting), gland-tipped anther connectives, inferior ovary with axile or deeply intruded parietal placenta and seed testa modified to wings or membraneous or horny. A tropical family of 129 genera containing 4620 species. Useful plants : Volatile oils, Fruits, Medicinals and Biopesticides A. Volatile oils 1. Eucalyptus (Gk: eu = well; calyptos = cover alluding to sepals which form a lid over flowers in bud-500) various species of this genus provide volatile oils used in medicine, industries and in perfumery. 1a. Medicinal oils are obtained from the leaves of E. elaeophora, E. globulus, E. leucoxylon and E. sideroxylon. These oils contain 45-75 %. Cineole and the rest of α-pinene, limonene, etc. They are used as antiseptics, mosquito and vermin repellants and expectorants. 1b. ...

Cucurbitacins, a group of the mightiest anticancer compounds Cucurbitacins are a group of steroid like triterpenes found in the members of Cucurbitaceae like Momordica Bryonia, Cucumis, Cucurbita, Luffa, Echinocystis, Lagenaria and Citrullusand a few members of Brassicaceae (seeds of Iberis and Lepidium sativum), Scrophulariaceae, Begoniaceae, Primulaceae, Liliaceae, Tropaeolaceae and Rosaceae. The diversity of cucurbitacins lies in variety of its side chain derivatives that contribute to their disparate pharmacological actions. They may be concentrated in fruits and roots of mature plants. Structure All cucurbitacins contain a basic 19-(10→9β)–abeo--10α–lanost–5--ene ring skeleton characterised by a double bond at 5, a methyl group at C-9 (rather than C-10) and numerous keto--, hydroxyl--, and acetoxy--groups. Most of the Cucurbitacins are tetracyclic, but some representatives have an extra ring due to formal cyclization between C--16 and C--24 as in cu...

Algae!!!! Many of our friends despise algae by calling them pond scum, seaweeds, and even frog spittle! But the fact is that it is the algae that give us the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the fuel for our cars (past and, perhaps, future), are also a source of active pharmaceutical compounds that can be used against drug-resistant bacterial strains, viruses (including Herpes Simplex and AIDS), and cancers. No other groups of “plants” have done so much, for so long, and, for so many as have the algae! Algae normally are scoffed at!!!! Indeed many people only experience algae in “bad situations” such as a big problem in local lakes, fishing holes, or even personal swimming pools, or as insect-covered seaweed litter on the beach or as contaminants in tropical fish tanks, or even worse, as red tides poisoning our seafood and/or us. In the English language, the common terms for algae include “pond scum,” “seaweeds,” “rockweed,” “ bladder wrack,” “sea wrack” an...

Last Universal Common Ancestor- LUCA,  the hypothetical ancestral organism from which to all living beings in earth evolved Based on molecular studies comparing Archaea, bacteria and Eukaryotes, it is proposed that a hypothetical microbe called LUCA:( the Last Universal Common Ancestor) lived Around 4 billion years ago. By looking for genes common to Archaea and bacteria, one can find out the genome of ancestor to all surviving descendants. Unfortunately, there are only about 355 such genes, mostly for ribosome proteins, proving that LUCA at least had the genetic code. Many other LUCA genes may have been lost in various later lineages over 4 billion years of evolution(A molecular clock model suggests that the LUCA may have lived 4.477 to 4.519 billion years ago, within the Hadean eon ) which can be considered an ancestor to all living organisms.They could have lived a somewhat 'alien' lifestyle, hidden away deep underground in iron-sulfur rich hydrothermal vents (- fissure...

Sapotaceae- the gutta family 30th Aug.2022, Vadodara Distinguishing features The family is identified by the peculiar medifixed hairs, milky latex, many sepals, petals & stamens and superior multilocular ovary containing a single ovule per locule. Useful plants A. General uses 1. Achras sapota Linn. is the source of the fruit Sapodilla. 2. Butyrospermum parkii Kotschy yields a fat from the seeds known as Shea butter containing 40 % stearic acid. It is used for manufacture of chocolates and soaps. The latex is the source of gutta-percha used for making chewing gum. 3. Madhuca: (Madhu = honey in Sanskrit, due to the sweet corolla) M. indica Gmel. and M. longifolia Macb. seeds yield Mowra fat containing upto 50 % palmitic and stearic acids. This edible oil is converted to margarines. M. butyracea yield Phulwara butter from seeds. The sweet flowers of Madhuca are used for the manufacture of alcohol by fermenting the same to prepare a beverage mowdi. 4. Calocarpu...