ABSTRACT
The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019 and quickly spread across the worldwide. It becomes a global pandemic and risk to the healthcare system of almost every nation around the world. In this study thirty natural compounds of 19 Indian herbal plants were used to analyze their binding with eight proteins associated with COVID -19. Based on the molecular docking as well as ADMET analysis, isovitexin, glycyrrhizin, sitosterol, and piperine were identified as potential herbal medicine candidates. On comparing the binding affinity with Ivermectin, we have found that the inhibition potentials of the Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek), Glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice), Tinospora cordifolia (giloy) and Piper nigrum (black pepper) are very promising with no side-effects.
ABSTRACT
The consumption of spices is growing in India with an increase in purchasing power. It is forecasted that everyone in the country would be consuming one spice or the other with a high per capita consumption. It is estimated that we may have a population of around 1.69 billion people during 2050 and approximately the per capita consumption of turmeric, ginger, black pepper and cardamom is expected to be about 1.6 kg, 1.2 kg, 148 g and 54 g, respectively. This may increase further owing to rapid urbanization which needs spices as natural food preservatives. Hence, the present study was conducted to analyze the growth trend in spices economy of India during the period 1990-91 to 2021-22 with reference to the selected growth indicators such as area, production, domestic market, export and export value. For estimating the acceleration in the growth rates, the paper uses semi-logarithmic specification of a non-linear (quadratic) equation. From the analysis, it is observed that there is a huge scope for output and export of spices. Despite the Covid pandemic, spices export from India has continued its upward trend during 2020-21 and has attained an all-time high of US $ 4.0 billion mark for the first time in the history of spices export. It also implies that there is strong domestic market for spices in India.
ABSTRACT
Implementation of remote sensing in agriculture helps to enhance crop growth monitoring especially during the Covid-19 pandemic. To enhance black pepper growth condition, a study was conducted at two study sites in Bintulu, Sarawak. Hence, this study aims (i) to construct a black pepper growth monitoring at different levels of elevation in Suka Farm (SF) and Taime Farm (TF);and (ii) to integrate limited ground data and NDVI time series from Landsat 8OLI for black pepper growth monitoring. Elevation maps were generated using Natural Neighbor (NN) based on the ground data analysed using ArcGIS 10.4 Software. Three elevation levels were classified into the lower, middle, and upper levels. Observational ground data and NDVI time series of Landsat 8 OLI were calculated using SAS 9.4 software. All parameters then correlating with the elevation levels using Pearson Correlation Coefficient. Optimum growth of black pepper growth in SF and TF was identified at an elevation range between 39m–50m. The NDVI time series also indicated equivalent results as the ground data. This study proposed that the elevation of an area gives a significant impact on black pepper growth. Besides, the NDVI time series of Landsat 8 OLI was feasible for monitoring black pepper growth.
ABSTRACT
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to devastate the world's health and economy, affecting all aspects of life leading to widespread social disruption. Even as several vaccines have been developed, their availability in developing countries is limited and their efficacy against the variants of SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus 2) needs to be continuously assessed. The World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged that vaccines alone will not overcome the global challenges of COVID-19. Medicinal plants may provide the needed support. Herein, we identify Philippine medicinal plants that possess phytochemicals with potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 activity and/or immunomodulatory properties that may strengthen one's immune system against COVID-19. These plants were selected from 100 of the best-studied Philippine medicinal plants with antiviral and immunomodulatory properties. The general antiviral and specific anti-SARS-CoV-2 activities and immunomodulatory properties of the phytochemicals that these plants contained were searched. While many compounds assessed individually using in vitro and in silico techniques suggest potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 or immunomodulatory effects, this review sought to identify the medicinal plants which contain these compounds and which, based on literature, have the best potential application against COVID-19. These plants are Allium spp. bulbs (bawang), Andrographis paniculata (Burm.f.) Nees leaves (sinta), Cocos nucifera L. oil (niyog), Euphorbia hirta L. leaves (tawa-tawa), Euphorbia neriifolia L. leaves (sorosoro), Moringa oleifera Lam. leaves (malunggay), Ocimum basilicum L. leaves (balanoy), Piper nigrum L. seeds (paminta), Vitex negundo L. leaves (lagundi), and Zingiber officinale Roscoe rhizome (luya). This review provides a shortlist that can guide research on possible solutions to COVID-19 using Philippine medicinal plants.
ABSTRACT
The nationwide lockdown which has been in force from 24th March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic had a severe economic impact on agriculture sector. This has been in spite of the exemptions given to the sector after two weeks of lockdown. The agriculture has been seen by many in the post-COVID scenario as the bright spot in the economy. But, the pepper crop is uniquely located in the sense that its consumption is largely driven by food processing industries which had been affected by the pandemic. Not only that the two back-to-back floods in 2018 and 2019 had severely affected the pepper production in Idukki district of Kerala which accounts for the largest production share. The district even faced a spate of farmer suicides in the recent times. This paper is an exploration into the various impacts of the present pandemic on the pepper economy of Kerala. It also tries to come up with some policy recommendations to revive the pepper production in the post-COVID economic structure.
ABSTRACT
Objective: This study was conducted to identify medicinal plants in the fight against Coronavirus disease, influenza and colds cited by travelers who came for their Covid test at the Institut Pasteur of C..te d'Ivoire. Methodology and Results: A semi-structured interview was conducted with 527 travelers from April 1 to June 30, 2021. The interviewed travelers were predominantly male (69.4%). Travelers going to France (28.46%) were the most numerous. The most represented age groups were 41-64 (43.83%) and 25-40 (43.26%). When the level of education is considered, the surveyed travelers have a higher level of education (89.94%). Entrepreneurs (13.85%), traders (12.66%), company directors (12.33%), students (8.54%) and health workers (6.45%) are the majority. Only 21.63% of travelers used traditional medicine in the last 12 months prior to the survey. Various plants are used to fight (33.43%) or prevent (56.57%) Coronavirus disease (7.02%), influenza (3.60%) and colds (2.84%). In total, 13 species of medicinal plants divided into 13 genera and 13 families were cited. Azadirachta indica (Meliaceae) with citation frequencies (cf) of 22%, Zingiber officinale (Zingiberaceae) with cf of 21% and Citrus limon (Rutaceae) with cf of 14% were the most cited species. Conclusion and application of results: These plants could be used for research and development of phytomedicines against Coronavirus, influenza and cold.
ABSTRACT
Piper was used to cure certain human afflictions. It has various biological processes in literary works. Our work aims to identify and to explain the molecular base in silico in phytoderived anti-viral compounds in Piper nigrum against the major protease enzyme COVID-19. The thesis includes docking and molecular dynamic modelling review of 8 phenolic compounds from Piper extracted from the PubMed database. Docking analysis with Autodock programme was conducted. Our analysis reveals that the two Piper phytochemicals are very susceptible to the COVID-19 major protease enzyme. These phyto-compounds from piper may use contemporary techniques to create a stable drug or help the detection of lead. In order to assess their efficacy against COVID-19, identified hit compounds can be taken further in vitro and in vivo tests.
ABSTRACT
Pollution of water linked to microbial decontamination and extensive use of sodium chlorite (NaClO2) as a disinfectant, especially in the face of the current COVID-19 situation, is a serious water pollution issue that needs to be addressed. In this context, an environmentally friendly and cost-effective method has been developed for the biomimetic synthesis of Ag nanospheres (Ag NSs) using aqueous extract of Piper nigrum for the detection of chlorite (ClO2-) and mercury (Hg2+) ions. The strong antioxidant properties of the biomolecules present in the Piper nigrum extract reduce silver ions (Ag+) to Ag0. After optimization of the formulation parameters, it was observed that 1 mL of piper nigrum extract was sufficient to reduce and stabilize 100 mL of 1.5 mM of Ag+ in 2.5 h at 30 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern of Ag NSs revealed their crystalline nature and the characteristic Bragg's diffraction peaks confirmed their face cubic crystal (FCC) lattice. The characteristic reddish-brown color and absorption surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band at 435 nm confirmed the successful fabrication of Ag NSs. Kinetic analysis revealed a three-phase growth pattern involving nucleation, growth and stabilization. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) micrograms, showed spherical NSs with narrow polydispersity with particle size ranging from 10 to 30 nm. The synthesized NSs were exposed to various metal ions and anions. The absorption intensity of Ag NSs quenched in the presence of mercury ions (Hg2+) among the cations and Chlorite ions (ClO2-) among the anions. The limit of detection (LOD) of 7.47 µM and 1.11 µM was evaluated from the calibration curve for Hg2+ and ClO2-, respectively. Based on these promising results, it is suggested that the method reported is a low-cost and one step biogenic protocol for the synthesis of Ag NSs and their employment for the detection of Hg2+ and ClO2-ions.