Study of nutritional contents of Pruns amygdalus batsch seeds

Prunus amygdalus Batsch [Rosaceae] is one of the major tree crops of the world.Inaddition to its nutritional value, almond also contains a number of phytochemicals that are responsible for a variety of bioactivities, among which antioxidant activity which has been frequently studied.Noprevious studies were done on Umm alfahm cultivar, this encouraged the authors to perform the present study aiming to throw light on the nutritional profile of title plant. Proximate analysis of the kernel Prunus amygdalus B. includes the determination of moisture content, total ash, total protein, total fats, total carbohydrates and crude fibers, study of vitamin E content by using HPLC, determination of the mineral content according to Association of Official Analytical Chemists[A.A.O.C] and determination of amino acid contents in kernels. Almond were showed a total fat [52.083%] the protein constitute [22.83%], carbohydrate [16.9%] adequate low moisture content [4.37%] low ash content [3.82%], the content of vitamin E in almond [77.67 mg/100gm], the mineral contents of almond were resulted Calcium [0.23%] Phosphorus [0.53%], Potassium 6656 mg/kg, Magnesium 2864 mg/kg, Sodium 1072.5 mg/kg, Iron119.9 mg/kg, Zinc 52.25 mg/kg, Selenium 68.71 mg/kg and Copper 13.55 mg/kg. The identified amino acids amounted to [40.2%] calculated on dry basis, total non-essential amino acids percentage [70%] was higher than the percentage of the essential amino acids [30%]. Glutamic acid [5.02%] was the major non-essential amino acid identified, whereas Cysteine [0.37%] was the minor component, concerning the identified essential amino acids, Leucine was the major one [1.38%], while methionine [0.16%] was the minor component. From the present study, it could be concluded that the kernels of Prunus amygdalus Batsch"Umm alfahm" cultivated in Egypt are good for health and should readily be incorporated into diet

Study of polysaccharides isolated from the oleo-gum-resins of boswellia carteri and commi phora myrrha and their immuno- modulatory activity

The present study aims to isolate the polysaccharides of the oleo-gum-resins of Boswellia carteri and Commiphora myrrha Family Burseraceae, identify their components and test their immuno-modulatory activity for the first time. The polysaccharides were isolated from the oleo-gum-resins of Boswellia carteri and Commiphora myrrha using different chemical and chromatographic techniques. The components of the polysaccharide hydrolysates are estimated qualitatively and quantitatively by using PC and HPLC analysis. The immuno-modulatory activity is tested by splenocyte and mitogen induced lymphocyte proliferation methods. The percentage yield of the isolated polysaccharide was 15.4% and 15.7% from Boswellia carteri and Commiphora myrrha oleo-gum-resins respectively. Galactose and ribose are the major constituting units of the polysaccharide isolated from Boswellia carteri oleo-gum-resin whereas ribose and galacturonic acid are the major constituting units of the polysaccharide isolated from Commiphora myrrha oleo-gum-resin. The polysaccharide of B. carteri oleo-gum-resin showed mild immuno-stimulatory activity at a dose of 5microg/ml, while that of C. myrrha oleo-gum-resin showed no activity at this dose. Chromatographic investigation of the polysaccharides isolated from Boswellia carteri and Commiphora myrrha oleo-gum-resins by PC and HPLC analysis demonstrated their qualitative and quantitative variation in their chemical composition. Higher concentrations of the polysaccharides could be tested for immuno-modulatory activity

Phytochemical and biological studies on the different organs of Tanacetum parthenium L.cultivated in Egypt

Phytochemical investigation of Tanacetum parthenium L. family Asteraceae cultivated in Egypt resulted in isolation and identification of four flavonoids. One surface flavonoid was isolated from the fresh leaves and three other flavonoids were isolated from the flower heads. Four sesquiterpene lactones were isolated from the leaves. Two sterols were isolated from the roots. A comparative study of the essential oil content of the leaves and the flower heads was performed using GC/MS. The results revealed the presence of 42 and 30 components in the leaves and the flower heads oil samples, respectively. The major components of both oil samples were camphor [constituted 37.7% and 48.4%] and chrysanthenyl acetate [constituted 33.8% and 26.3%] in the leaves and the flower heads, respectively. Different extracts of T. parthenium L. showed significant biological activities. Analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antispasmodic and uterine-stimulant activities were studied in addition to the in vitro cytotoxic effect

Analysis of pilocarpine, quinine and cantharidin in cosmetic hair lotions

Pilocarpine, quinine and cantharidin were qualitatively and quantitatively determined in three cosmetic hair lotions. The pharmacopeal tests, microcrystalization and TLC investigation revealed the presence of pilocarpine and cantharidin in all lotions, and quinine in Tonoscalpine and Healthy Hair lotions, only. Tonoscalpin contained 0.01% w/w of pilocarpine, 0.1% w/w of quinine and 0.056% w/w of cantharidin, while Dorin contained 0.97% w/w of pilocarpine, 0.048% w/w of cantharidin and was devoid of quinine, as determined by HPLC and acid-base titration methods. The Healthy Hair preparation tested contained 0.0042% w/w of pilocarpine, 0.002% w/w of quinine and 0.0344% of cantharidin. The HPLC method was proved more sensitive, rapid and reliable. The recovery percentage for the titrimetric and HPLC methods ranged from 95 to 98% and 98 to 100.7%, respectively

Echocardiographic assessment in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in relation to disease activity

For assessment of the cardiac manifestations of SLE by a noninvasive way, echocardiographic-Doppler study was done. 40 patients with SLE were diagnosed and followed up in the Rheumatology Rehabilitation Department, Kasr El-Aini Hospital, Cairo University. Finally, cardiac assessment clinically and echocardiographically was done in the Cardiology Department, El-Hussein Hospital, Al-Azhar University. The study was done in the period from 1993 till 1995. The study showed significant changes in the cardiac assessment especially with the mild forms of the disease

Mitral regurgitation, pre and [immediate and 3 months] after percutaneous mitral valvoplasty: echocardiographic doppler study]

This study was carried out on the patients who were candidates for percutaneous balloon mitral valvuloplasty. They were 20 [10 males and 10 females] for whom echocardiographic Doppler study was done before, immediate [24-48 hours] and 3 months after [PBMV]. Twelve patients from all groups [20 patients] were free from mitral regurgitation. Six of them developed grade I mitral regurgitation after the procedure. The remaining 8 from the all groups were found to have grade I MR after the procedure, 2 of them developed grade II mitral regurgitation. Results were statistically significant between the finding before and immediate results and also between the results taken after three months as regard before the procedure. In the contrary, the results between the immediate reading and the late reading were statistically nonsignificant

Mutagenic ability of unconcentrated polluted and treated nile water

Raw as well as treated Nile water samples were probably mutagenic in some instances. Chlorine addition generally increased the mutagenicity effects, producing larger numbers of revertants from histidine dependent strains of Salmonella typhimurium than samples without chlorine. Storage of water samples for 7 days at room temperature before filtration and mutagenicity testing generally increased the potentiality for giving larger numbers of revertants i. e. mutagenic ability Addition of activated carbon seemed to have no appreciable effective action on removing mutagenic activity during the existing water treatment facilities

Viruses in treated effluent I drinking water

Fifty six water samples within a full-scale water treatment plant were collected and concentrated for the detection of enteric viruses and other bioindicators. Enteroviruses were detected in 30.7, 29.4 and 15.3 percent of the samples collected at the intake, after filtration and postchlorination respectively, while undetected after prechlorination-clarification processes. As the detection rate of viruses was decreased, the incidence of coliform phages along the treatment steps was increased. Three types of the enteroviruses were identified as polio, ECHO and Coxsackie viruses. In the absence of coliform organisms and sometimes of faecal streptococci, it was possible to detect these viruses. In postchlorinated finished water, the three types of enteroviruses as well as coli-phages were also detected

Reactions on 6, 7-benzindazole- 3 carboxylic acid hydrazide, synthesis of some heterocycles of potential biological activity

Various compounds containing the naphthalene nucleus have shown to possess biological activity since naphthalene derivatives may undergo biological oxidation to naphthoquinone [1], which are potential bioreductive alkylating agents[2]. Also, the biological activity exhibited by cyclic compounds such as pyrazoles[3], oxadiazoles [4-6] and triazoles [7] have made them important chemotherapeutic agents. This gave a basis for the synthesis of these heterocycles attached to 6,7 bezindazole [4,5-naphthpyrazoie] moiety hoping to obtain promising biologically active compounds. Thus, reaction of ethyl 4,5-dihydro 6,7-benzindazole-3-carboxylate [8] with hydrazine hydrate gave the starting hydrazine I. This was condensed with acetylacetone, ethyl acetoacetate [9,10] and/or ethyl 2-bromopropionatc,[10] to afford the corresponding pyrazoles IIa-c. Infrared spectrum of IIb showed intensive absorption band at 3200 cm[-1] indicating overlapped two NH groups, two strong bands at 1730 cm[-1] assigned to the cyclic amide of the pyrazolone ring and at 1670 cm[-1] characteristic for the normal 3[ry] amide group