ABSTRACT
In the era of COVID pandemic, it is highly desirable to improve body's immune responses. Many of the diseases including COVID impact the immune system and make it defenseless. There is a growing interest of herbal medicine around the world owing to effective pharmacological actions attributed by its unique phytocompounds. Majority of the immunomodulatory drugs including both immunosuppressor and immuno-stimulators are synthetic organic compounds having side effects. Therefore, there is a growing interest to use plant-based products to regulate immune responses. The present chapter deals with the recognition of members of the family Solanaceae for their use as potential immunomodulators. There are quite a few reports of active phytocompounds isolated from different solanaceous plants that have a myriad of medicinal properties. Various phytochemicals such as phenolic compounds, flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenes, lactones, and glycosides have been shown to have various therapeutic effects on human body owing to their ability to influence body's immune system. The present chapter will give a comprehensive overview of plant-based therapeutics of solanaceous plants including withanolides isolated from Withania somnifera and Physalis sps, capsaicinoids isolated from Capsicum, and lycopene from tomato. Solanaceae is one of the superfamily having huge repertoire of plants belonging to major food crops utilized throughout the world (tomato, potato, capsicum etc.) as well as in medicine category. Besides several members of the Solanaceae family such as Physalis sps, Atropa sps, Datura stramonium, and Solanum xanthocarpum have potential phytomolecules belonging to alkaloids, terpenoids, and steroid category, which are recognized as medicines. This chapter will also give a critical overview of the possibilities, facts, and prospects of the use of members of Solanaceae family as potential future immunomodulatory drugs. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.
ABSTRACT
Inflammation, characterized by the overexpression of IL-6 in various tissues, has been reported as a symptom of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this study, we established an experimental system for overexpression of IL-6 in HeLa cells stimulated by TNF-α and IL-17, along with identification of anti-inflammatory materials and components from local agricultural, forestry, and fishery resources. We constructed a library of extracts from natural sources, of which 111 samples were evaluated for their anti-inflammatory activities. The MeOH extract of Golden Berry (Physalis peruviana L) leaf was found to exhibit strong anti-inflammatory properties (IC50 = 4.97 µg/mL). Preparative chromatography identified two active constituents, 4ß-hydroxywithanolide E (4ß-HWE) (IC50 = 183 nM) and withanolide E (WE) (IC50 = 65.1 nM). Withanolides are known anti-inflammatory ingredients of Withania somnifera, an Ayurvedic herbal medicine. P. peruviana leaves containing 4ß-HWE and WE should be considered as useful natural resources for anti-inflammatory products.
ABSTRACT
COVID-19, a disease caused by SARS-COV-2 virus was the reason for the pandemic and loss of many lives. The virus transmission from human-to-human touch led to outbreaks of this disease. World health organization has recommended a list of precautionary measures to avoid the major infection of this virus. This list includes various medicinal plants, fruits and vegetables which can boost the immunity and help in reducing the risk of infection. Due to this COVID-19, the food habits of most of the people changed which led to shift towards healthier lifestyle. As most of the Indian population is vegetarian, so the health based plant food including wild plant sources have been explored extensively. The wild fruits like bael, aonla, jamun, rubus, aakhe, simul and many more have the antiviral properties and immune boosting properties which could be incorporated in our diet. The bioactive compounds like polyphenolics, flavonoids, tannins, phytosterols, vitamins, minerals, etc., present in above mentioned wild fruits can be utilized to have healthful benefits. As these functional components can help in reducing various diseases like asthma, bronchitis, cold, fever, flu, inflammatory diseases, cancer, cardiovascular diseases and ultimately boost up the immunity to cope up with COVID-19 illness.
ABSTRACT
Cape gooseberry fruits have positioned in the world market due to their excellent nutritional characteristics, because they are an ideal food that contributes to raising the defenses of the human body and helps it to face diseases such as COVID-19, they are also a natural source of antioxidants and anticancer agents. In order to avoid the physiopathy of cracking in cape gooseberry fruits, these were characterized at harvest time, coming from greenhouse plants irrigated with different applications of water levels and irrigation frequencies, as well as different calcium doses, in a design of randomized complete blocks with 12 treatments. The blocks were the irrigation frequencies (4, 9 and 14 days), while the treatments were the combination of four irrigation coefficients (0.7, 0.9, 1.1 and 1.3 of the evaporation of the tank class A) and three doses of calcium (0, 50 and 100 kg ha-1). The plants were sown in 20 L pots with peat moss substrate. Fruits were harvested at the color stage 5 and 6 of the calyx, from 19 weeks after transplanting. The different water levels and irrigation frequencies did not significantly affect the firmness of the cape gooseberry fruits, but there was a strong tendency that cracked gooseberry fruits are less firm than healthy fruits. As the irrigation coefficient increased, the total soluble solids (TSS) increased while the total titratable acids (TTA) decreased. Irrigation frequency of 14 days generated fruits with higher TSS and pH values. The calcium doses did not affect the calcium concentration in the fruits or the TSS, TTA and pH values. Therefore, it can be concluded that incremented irrigation coefficients (up to 1.3) increase the quality of cape gooseberry fruits.
ABSTRACT
Despite the high number of victims every year, Physalia physalis's envenomations in Indonesia are scientifically unsounded. This annual event occurred mainly in Java's southern beaches and the Eastern Bali Islands, which are the most tourist destinations. The lack of scientific reports can lead to unaware and uneducated beachgoers resulting in a high number of victims, which in turn may ruin the economic sectors. Thus, this study aimed to report P. physalis's envenomation and its treatments in the southern beaches of the Special Region of Yogyakarta Province. It was based on the 15 beach lifeguards' and the primary health care units' reports in 2019-2020. The envenomation cases varied among beaches and years, whereas the highest number of cases were reported in the most popular beach (Parangtritis beach). The partial beach closing due to the pandemic COVID-19 caused the number of cases in 2020 was slightly lower than that in 2019. The envenomations' general symptoms were oedema and local pain that were treated with 5% food vinegar and hot water, if available. The severe cases (dyspnoea, nausea, vomiting, and cephalgia) were only reported twice in 2019. They were hospitalised in primary health care units; however, many people still practise the traditional non-scientific treatments, particularly in a chaotic situation.