Volume 60 (2014): Issue 1 (March 2014)

Roseroot (Rhodiola rosea L.) is an adaptogenic plant, widely used in the traditional medicine of Scandinavia, Russia, China and Mongolia. The aim of the study was to determine the biometric and phytochemical co-variability of this species under field cultivation in western Poland (Plewiska near Poznań). The plant material originated from four-year-old cultivation established twice by rhizome division in autumn 2007 and 2008. In the study, 46 individuals (23 plants in 2011 and in 2012) were used. The biometric analysis included measurements of the basic characteristics of plants related to the size (luxuriance) of clumps, shoots, leaves and rhizomes with roots (raw material). The amounts of total polyphenols (expressed as gallic acid), tannins (expressed as pyrogallol) and flavonoids (expressed as quercetin) were determined spectrophotometrically. The obtained results showed high variation of Rh. rosea, especially in the level of flavonoids (0.01-0.20% DM) and in the weight of raw material (113-1156 g FM/plant). There were observed correlations between the phytochemical (flavonoid and total phenolic content) and biometric (water content, leaf number, shoot and clump size) features.

Model maidenhair tree (Ginkgo bilobae) leaf extracts were created basing on medium of diversified polarity (ε_M). Chromatographic analysis was performed with the HPLC method, with the so-called dry residue remaining after evaporating the dissolving agent from saturated aqueous solutions and from 0.1 mol HCl. Viscosity measure and surface activity estimations were conducted on phase boundary. Then, basic values of viscosity ([η], M_η) and hydrodynamic values (Ro, Robs., Ω) were calculated. Moreover, reference quercetin and rutin (rutoside) were used to mark the conversion contents of flavonoids in produced extracts with the UV method.

Medicinal plants are considered to be new resources for the production of agents that could act as alternatives to antibiotics in the treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of some plants native to Syria in the treatment of brucellosis. In vitro activities of some essential oils and plant extracts of some medicinal plants against 89 Brucella melitensis isolates was determined by disc diffusion method at a concentration of 5%. The microdilution assay in the fluid medium was used to determine the MICs of essential oils and plant extracts. Among the evaluated herbs, only Thymus syriacus and Cinnamomum zeylanicum essential oils and Laurus nobilis plant extract showed a high activity against B. melitensis strains. Thus, minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC₅₀) values for T. syriacus, C. zeylanicum, and L. nobilis against B. melitensis were 6.25, 3.125 and 6.25 μl/ml, respectively. Among studied essential oils and plant extracts, T. syriacus and C. zeylanicum essential oils, and L. nobilis plant extract were the most effective ones. Moreover, T. syriacus - C. zeylanicum combination was more effective than use of each of them alone. Then, T. syriacus and C. zeylanicum essential oils and L. nobilis plant extract could act as bactericidal agents against B. melitensis.

Capparis spinosa roots and fruits are traditionally used for the treatment of diseases such as diarrhea and hemorrhoids. In the 10^th century, farmers also used aqueous extract from its roots for disinfecting their plants’ seeds. Due to widespread use of this plant in traditional medicine, we evaluated different extracts (aqueous, methanol, ethanol and ethyl acetate) of fruits and roots of this plant against bacteria and fungi causing infections in plants or humans. The total phenolic and flavonoid content of extracts from fruits and roots and the antioxidant activity were evaluated. The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by microdilution assay in fluid medium. Among different extracts from roots and fruits, root ethyl acetate and fruit methanol extracts had higher total phenolic content, while fruit ethyl acetate extract contained higher total flavonoid content. The higher antioxidant activity was shown for roots ethanol extract (IC₅₀=88 μg/ml). As its traditional uses, roots aqueous extract from C. spinosa exhibited inhibitory effect against bacteria and fungi with the exception of Pseudomonas aeruginosa. With the exception of fruit aqueous extract, other extracts (methanol, ethanol and ethyl acetate) from fruit and root exhibited good activity against microorganisms, especially fungi. This study reveals the traditional uses of roots and fruit extracts as antimicrobials agent.

Androgenetic alopecia is caused by the influence of sex hormones on hair follicles and by hereditary factors. Characteristic for that type of alopecia is shortening of the hair growth phase and elongation of the rest phase caused by disturbance of the process of transformation of testosterone into dihydrotestosterone. Treatment of that type of alopecia involves 5α-reductase inhibitors, antagonists of the androgenic receptor or stimulating proliferation of cells to induce the hair growth. A number of plant raw materials work that way, thus they can be used in treatment of this type of alopecia.