Total phenolic content and versatile biological activity of some selected widely consumed Egyptian vegetables'extract

Ethanolic extract as well as essential oils of parsley [Petroselinum crispum], Coriander [Coriander sativum] and dill [Anethum graveolens L.] were subjected for biological evaluation. Thus, these extracts and vegetables oils were evaluated for their inhibitory effects against different types of microorganisms using the agar diffusion technique. The ethanolic extracts as well as the essential oils were tested against two Gram-positive bacterial strains [Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus], two Gram-negative bacterial strains [Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli], one yeast strain [Candida albicans] and three fungal strains [Aspergillus fumigatus, Penicillium italicum and Syncephalastrum racemosum]. Furthermore, the previous extracts and essential oils were evaluated for their antioxidant activity using 1, 1-diphenyl- 2-picrylhydrazyl [DPPH] scavenging techaque

Okra and Jew's mellow mucilages as hypoglycemic agents

Adult male normal and diabetic rats were maintained on diets containing 1,2,3 or 4% mucilage extracted from okra pods and jew's mellow leaves. The blood samples were taken every two weeks for measuring glucose, insulin, total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C and triacylglycerols. At the end of experiment [6 weeks], the animals were sacrificed and hepatic glycogen contents were measured. The mucilages decreased plasma levels of glucose, total cholesterol, LDL-C and triacylglycerols, while HDL-C and hepatic glycogen were increased