ABSTRACT
Selaginella bryopteris is a pteridophytic plant belongs to the family selaginellaceae. Its familiar name is sanjeevani booti. The present study emphasized on phytochemical screening and antidepressant activity of Selaginella bryopteris on Albino mice. Phytochemical analysis was carried with a view to asses the therapeutic values and safty of plant in ethnomedicine. The results of the phytochemical screening shows the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, tannins and results of the quantitative estimations revealed that maximum amount of alkaloids are present in methanolic extract when compared to flavonoids, phenols and tannins. From the results of the phytochemical estimations methanolic extract is found to be efficient. The antidepressant activity of Selaginella bryopteris was tested on mice by Hole board test and Rotarod test. In both the tests Diazepam (depressant/ for inducing depressant) is used as standard. The results of the Hole board test showed significant motar performance (head dipping behavior) with the dose of 250mg/kg (48.66±4.05 at 120min) and 500mg/kg ( 69.33±6.36 at 120min) compared to standard of 10mg/kg (1.66±1.20 at 120min) and it was very interesting to note that retention time of mice has been significantly improved in Rotarod test with the dose of 250mg/kg (3.96±0.35) and 500mg/kg (7.23±0.46) of the methanolic extract of Selaginella bryopteris.
ABSTRACT
Antioxidative status study was made in cotyledons of 7 days old as well as in leaf and stem tissues of 30 and 60 days old pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) namely Asha and Maruti subjected to different doses of endosulfan in the range 0.1-1.0%. The results revealed that the activities of the antioxidative enzymes and the antioxidant contents such as the super oxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), reducing power (RP), ascorbic acid (AsA) and total phenols (TP) increased with increase in the concentrations of endosulfan in different parts of the plants in both the varieties. It was interesting to note that the increase in the antioxidative enzymes and the antioxidant contents were higher in leaves than in stem and cotyledons in both the plant varieties. The Asha showed lower activity of SOD and higher activity of POD than the Maruti. The RP and AsA contents were higher, whereas the TP content was lower in Asha than Maruti. The observed variations in the activities of the oxidative enzymes and the antioxidant contents of the plants treated with the varying concentration of endosulfan indicated that the antioxidative system in the plants plays a fundamental role in minimizing the deleterious effects of the oxidative stress in the two varieties of Cajanus cajan.
ABSTRACT
The interactive effect of metal ions namely chromium and iron has been studied under controlled conditions on the diazotropic cyanobacterium Hapalosiphon stuhlmannii and the photosynthetic green alga Scenedesmus quadricauda over the exponential growth period of the cells. The work describes by employing an exponential cell growth model, the effect of metal ions both individually and in combination, on the physiological and biochemical characteristics e.g. dry weight, chlorophylls, carotenoid and protein content of the cells over the concentration range of 0.1-3.0:0.2-16.0 microg/ml of Cr:Fe. The results reveal that the interactive effect on the dry weight, chlorophyll and protein content of both the algal cells was antagonistic at the bimetallic concentrations of 0.1:16.0, 3.0:0.2 and 3.0:16.0 microg/ml but the interaction on the protein content of both the cells was synergistic at 0.1:0.2 microg/ml of Cr:Fe. Further the degree of antagonism on dry weight was higher in H. stuhlmannii than in S. quadricauda. The degree of antagonism varied with the bimetallic concentrations and was generally lower at the higher metal concentrations. The antagonistic behavior was considered to be due to adsorption of one of the metals hindering the sorption of the other and the synergistic effect, due to adsorption of one enhancing the permeability to the other metal. The varied interactions were possibly due to the formation of metal complexes with the microalgal exudes.