Plant phenolics are important nutritional antioxidants which could aid in overcoming chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and cancer, two leading causes of death in the world. The essential oils from different plant sources are a rich source of water-soluble phenolics which have high antioxidant activities. Essential oils are the volatile fraction of aromatic and medicinal plants after extraction by steam or water distillation. They have been used for their pharmaceutical potential since early times, and even now are still subject to a great deal of attention. This review presents both fundamental and recent studies concerned with the role of essential oils and their major constituents as anticancer agents.

The rates of obesity and diabetes are worrying. Some adjuvants can assist in weight loss and reduction in blood glucose. In this context, the α-amylase inhibitor is presented as a promising alternative because it interferes with digestion and thus absorption of carbohydrates from the diet. The white bean is the main source of α-amylase inhibitors protein (α-AI). The α-AI1 white kidney bean extract appears as a promising aid in the treatment of diabesity. However, there are several aspects that require further studies, such as the optimal dose and safety arising from the use of this inhibitor as well as effects from the change of carbohydrate digestion in the long term.

Objective: The present study was designed to investigate the antihepatotoxic efficacy of "Livshis," a polyherbal formulation against carbon tetrachloride (CCl ₄ )-induced hepatocellular injury in male albino rats. Materials and Methods: Wistar male albino rats (170 ± 10 g) were divided equally into 10 groups (n = 6, in each group). Liver necrosis was produced by the intraperitoneal injection of CCl ₄ (0.1 ml/100 g body weight, 50% v/v with olive oil). Results: The final body weight, glycogen content, activities of hepatic antioxidant key enzymes, i.e. catalase, peroxidase, glutathione-S-transferase, and superoxide dismutase, and the hepatic level of vitamin C decreased significantly (P < 0.001) along with the elevation in the hepatic lipid peroxidation level, i.e., thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in CCl ₄ -injected animals in comparison to vehicle-treated control animals. Hepatocellular necrosis leads to an elevation in the serum marker enzymes, i.e., serum glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, and alkaline phosphatase, and also total bilirubin, urea, uric acid, creatinine, and blood urea nitrogen along with a decrease in the serum total protein level. The histoarchitecture of the liver and hematological parameters were significantly affected in CCl ₄ -treated animals in respect to the control and vehicle-treated control animals. The administration of "Livshis" (5 mg/0.5 ml distilled water/100 g body weight/rat/day) to the CCl ₄ -treated animals resulted in a significant recovery in changes observed in the above-mentioned parameters. Insignificant variations in the levels of above-mentioned parameters were noted in "Livshis" pretreated cum CCl ₄ -treated animals in respect to the control and vehicle-treated control animals. The levels of above parameters in water pretreated cum CCl ₄ -treated group which were deviated significantly from the control group were recovered significantly toward the control group in "Livshis" pretreated cum CCl ₄ -treated animals. Conclusion: Our study suggests that "Livshis" significantly protects the liver against CCl ₄ -induced toxicity.

Introduction: Liver diseases and jaundice have continued to be a major health problem in the world's population with most conventional drugs not being adequate for treatment. The study was designed to evaluate the hepatoprotective activity and antijaundice property of aqueous extract of Annona muricata (Linn.) against carbon tetrachloride- (CCl ₄ ) and acetaminophen-induced hepatotoxicity in Sprague-Dawley rat model. Materials and Methods: Liver damage and hepatic jaundice were induced in experimental animals by administering CCl ₄ and acetaminophen after pretreatment with aqueous extract of A. muricata. The aqueous extract at 50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg was administered for 7 days by oral route. Silymarin (100 mg/kg) was given as the standard hepatoprotective drug. Hepatoprotective effect was studied by assaying the activity of serum marker enzymes such as alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase, cholesterol, and triglycerides while antijaundice effect was assayed by measuring serum total bilirubin and indirect bilirubin concentration. Results: The activity of all the marker enzymes registered significant increases in CCl ₄ - and acetaminophen-treated rats, decreases in cholesterol and triglyceride concentration, and increases in total and indirect bilirubin, an indication of hepatic jaundice. A. muricata at all doses significantly restored liver function toward normal levels which compared well against silymarin control. Histopathological analysis of liver sections confirmed biochemical investigations. Conclusion: The results indicate that leaves of A. muricata possess hepatoprotective activity and can treat hepatic jaundice.

Background: Hyperglycemia, a condition characterized by an abnormal excess of sugar in the blood, has been linked to the onset of type 2 diabetes mellitus and is associated with oxidation-linked vascular complications. Medicinal plants and legumes have been shown to exert their hypoglycemic effect by several mechanisms which include the inhibition of the key enzymes, pancreatic α-amylase and intestinal α-glucosidase. The aim of the present study was to investigate the enrichment of soy and pumpkin seed substrates with phenolic antioxidants via fungal-based solid-state bioconversion (SSB) system by dietary fungus (Rhizopus oligosporus) and its effect on the inhibition of the above enzymes. Materials and Methods: Total phenol content (Lowry's method) and antioxidant activity [1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)] were determined. Inhibition of α-amylase and α-glucosidase activities was measured using starch and p-nitrophenyl-α-d-glucopyranoside as substrates, respectively. Results: Protein and total phenol content of the seed extracts increased with fungal incubation time. High antioxidant activity was observed with both extracts (soy 85 ± 0.6% and pumpkin 84 ± 0.2%) during early growth stage (days 4-6). The SSB process substantially improved in vitro α-amylase inhibition activity in soy seed extracts to 75% on day 4 which correlated (r = 0.8) with higher levels of antioxidant activity. On the other hand, bioprocessing of pumpkin seed extracts improved α-glucosidase inhibition activity by 97% on day 6, which also correlated with higher levels of antioxidant activity (r = 0.66). Conclusion: SSB is a good strategy to improve the phenolic content of the above seeds for enhanced functionality with improved antioxidant activity that contributes to α-amylase inhibition relevant to potential diabetes management.

Introduction: Zingiberaceae spices are important in diet and are well known for their health promoting effects. However, their effect on modulation of innate immunity is not very well understood. Objective: The effect of two dietary Zingiberaceae spices (ginger and turmeric) on innate immunological parameters was investigated in Lumbricus terrestris. Materials and Methods: Animals fed ad libitum on Lumbricus growth medium supplemented with 0.1% (w/v) and 0.5% (w/v) of spices for 6 days. Relative fold changes in total coelomic cell counts, coelomic cell viability and relative neutrophil-like cell counts were determined in response to spice treatment. Fold changes in nitric oxide, phagocytic activity (PA) and respiratory burst index (RBI) were determined in response to spice treatment relative to control. Effect of spices on suppression of immunological functions in response to treatment with cyclophosphamide (50 mg/kg-BW) was also evaluated. Results: Our results indicate that dietary supplementation of Zingiberaceae spices significantly increased the coelomcyte number, viability and their differentiation into neutrophil-like cells. An increase in coelomic fluid nitric oxide level in response to dietary supplementation with ginger and turmeric, may explain these effects. Spice treatments also resulted in coelomcytes that had significantly higher PA relative to control. Surprisingly, the RBI increased nonexponentially in response to spice treatments suggesting a potential enhancement in pathogen recognition and antioxidant defenses. Moreover, cotreatment with spices abrogated immunosuppressive effects of CP in L. terrestris and improved immunological functions. Conclusion: Zingiberaceae spices may have beneficial immunomodulatory properties with potential applications in wound healing, antibiotic and cancer chemotherapy.

Background: Sespadula (Trichosanthes dioica roxb) is well known for blood sugar and cholesterol lowering capacity. For the first time, we report the simple and selective high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC)-UV _{530 nm} techniques for the simultaneous estimation of the two marker compounds lupeol (LP) and stigmasterol (ST) in the methanolic extract of leaves of Sespadula. Materials and Methods: Chromatographic separation was best achieved on LiChrospher^® HPTLC plates precoated with (silica gel 60F ₂₅₄ ) in toluene-methanol-formic acid (7.0:2.7:0.3, v/v/v) as mobile phase. Ultraviolet detection was performed densitometrically at the maximum absorbance wavelength, 530 nm. The method was validated for precision, recovery, robustness, specificity, and detection and quantification limits, in accordance with ICH guidelines. Results: Compact bands for LP and ST were obtained at R_F 0.52 ± 0.02 and 0.28 ± 0.05 at 530 nm in reflectance mode, respectively. The limit of detection (45 and 18ng/band), limit of quantification (135 and 54 ng/band), recovery (98.2-99.7 and 97.2-99.6%), and precision (≤2.18 and 1.91) were satisfactory for LP and ST, respectively. Calibration for LP and ST were 100-1000 (r² = 0.9994) and 50-500 ng/band (r² = 0.9941) and the contents estimated as 0.67% and 0.34% w/w, respectively. The total phenolic, flavonoid, proanthocyanidin, alkaloidal, and saponin contents of methanolic extract of Sespadula were measured in this study. Conclusion: This simple, precise, and accurate method gave good resolution from other constituents present in the extract. The method has been successfully applied in the analysis and routine quality control of herbal material and formulations containing Sespadula.