Evaluation of antioxidant potential and HPLC based identification of phenolics in Polygonum amplexicaule extract and its fractions

There is a growing interest for the plant-based medicines in pharmaceutical industry. Plant derived Antioxidants have gained huge importance regarding their medicinal value. The present study was designed to establish pharmaceutical value of Polygonum amplexicaule for their antioxidant activity using shoot, leaf and rhizome crude methanolic extract along with their n-butanolic, ethanolic, ethyl acetate and aqueous fractions. DPPH assay was used to assess antioxidants, which shows the maximum activity by crude methanolic extract of leaves [CMEL] having IC[50] 1.03 [micro]g/mL where all other fractions showed IC[50] in a range of 1.03-58.2 [micro]g/mL. The DNA plasmid protection assay showed that 10 ppm and 100 ppm concentrations of crude methanolic extracts [rhizome and leaf], aqueous fractions [shoot and leaf extract], n-butanolic fractions [shoot and leaf extract] and ethanolic fraction [rhizome extract] have DNA protection properties. TLC and HPLC based Identification of different antioxidants present in shoot, leaf and rhizome crude extracts and their fractions showed the presence of gallic acid, quercetin, catechin, caffeic acid, rutin, myricetin and kaempferol. This study suggested that this plant have high content of antioxidants, which needs to be investigated further for their medicinal and/ cosmaceutical applications

insight on malankholia [melancholia]: unani perspective

Malankholia [melancholia] is defined as a disorder in which the mental functions are deranged and the afflicted person is more prone toward constant grief, fear, and dubious aggression, and the ability to analyze and interpret things is grossly affected, as enunciated by Jalinus [Galen] and quoted by Zakaria Razi [850-923 AD] in his world-renowned treatise "Kitab Al-Havi." The term melancholia literally means "black humor," which is the predominant causative factor. Mental ill-health is one of the most disturbing and disabling disorders of life. It affects not only the concerned person but also his/ her family and the society as a whole with social stigma attached to it. The problem is steadily on the rise due to factors such as urbanization, industrialization, and increase in lifespan, together with the breakup of the joint family system, with implication of multiple genes augmenting the psychiatric disorders. The prevalence of psychiatric illness is almost the same globally, about 8-10 per 1000 population. Unani, an age-old traditional system of medicine, has described in its classical text not only the concept of this disorder but also its management with various modes of treatment, which if pursued will mitigate the suffering of humanity to a great extent. The present review manuscript is an attempt to highlight the available literature from the Unani perspective