Potential use of the Asteraceae family as a cure for diabetes: A review of ethnopharmacology to modern day drug and nutraceuticals developments.

The diabetes-associated mortality rate is increasing annually, along with the severity of its accompanying disorders that impair human health. Worldwide, several medicinal plants are frequently urged for the management of diabetes. Reports are available on the use of medicinal plants by traditional healers for their blood-sugar-lowering effects, along with scientific evidence to support such claims. The Asteraceae family is one of the most diverse flowering plants, with about 1,690 genera and 32,000 species. Since ancient times, people have consumed various herbs of the Asteraceae family as food and employed them as medicine. Despite the wide variety of members within the family, most of them are rich in naturally occurring polysaccharides that possess potent prebiotic effects, which trigger their use as potential nutraceuticals. This review provides detailed information on the reported Asteraceae plants traditionally used as antidiabetic agents, with a major focus on the plants of this family that are known to exert antioxidant, hepatoprotective, vasodilation, and wound healing effects, which further action for the prevention of major diseases like cardiovascular disease (CVD), liver cirrhosis, and diabetes mellitus (DM). Moreover, this review highlights the potential of Asteraceae plants to counteract diabetic conditions when used as food and nutraceuticals. The information documented in this review article can serve as a pioneer for developing research initiatives directed at the exploration of Asteraceae and, at the forefront, the development of a botanical drug for the treatment of DM.

Virtual 2D map of cyanobacterial proteomes.

Cyanobacteria are prokaryotic Gram-negative organisms prevalent in nearly all habitats. A detailed proteomics study of Cyanobacteria has not been conducted despite extensive study of their genome sequences. Therefore, we conducted a proteome-wide analysis of the Cyanobacteria proteome and found Calothrix desertica as the largest (680331.825 kDa) and Candidatus synechococcus spongiarum as the smallest (42726.77 kDa) proteome of the cyanobacterial kingdom. A Cyanobacterial proteome encodes 312.018 amino acids per protein, with a molecular weight of 182173.1324 kDa per proteome. The isoelectric point (pI) of the Cyanobacterial proteome ranges from 2.13 to 13.32. It was found that the Cyanobacterial proteome encodes a greater number of acidic-pI proteins, and their average pI is 6.437. The proteins with higher pI are likely to contain repetitive amino acids. A virtual 2D map of Cyanobacterial proteome showed a bimodal distribution of molecular weight and pI. Several proteins within the Cyanobacterial proteome were found to encode Selenocysteine (Sec) amino acid, while Pyrrolysine amino acids were not detected. The study can enable us to generate a high-resolution cell map to monitor proteomic dynamics. Through this computational analysis, we can gain a better understanding of the bias in codon usage by analyzing the amino acid composition of the Cyanobacterial proteome.

Nanofertilizers: A Smart and Sustainable Attribute to Modern Agriculture.

The widespread use of fertilizers is a result of the increased global demand for food. The commonly used chemical fertilizers may increase plant growth and output, but they have deleterious effects on the soil, the environment, and even human health. Therefore, nanofertilizers are one of the most promising solutions or substitutes for conventional fertilizers. These engineered materials are composed of nanoparticles containing macro- and micronutrients that are delivered to the plant rhizosphere in a regulated manner. In nanofertilizers, the essential minerals and nutrients (such as N, P, K, Fe, and Mn) are bonded alone or in combination with nano-dimensional adsorbents. This review discusses the development of nanotechnology-based smart and efficient agriculture using nanofertilizers that have higher nutritional management, owing to their ability to increase the nutrient uptake efficiency. Additionally, the synthesis and mechanism of action of the nanofertilizers are discussed, along with the different types of fertilizers that are currently available. Furthermore, sustainable agriculture can be realised by the targeted delivery and controlled release of nutrients through the application of nanoscale active substances. This paper emphasises the successful development and safe application of nanotechnology in agriculture; however, certain basic concerns and existing gaps in research need to be addressed and resolved.

Exploration of Lamiaceae in Cardio Vascular Diseases and Functional Foods: Medicine as Food and Food as Medicine.

In the current scenario, cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most life-threatening diseases that has caused high mortality worldwide. Several scientists, researchers, and doctors are now resorting to medicinal plants and their metabolites for the treatment of different diseases, including CVD. The present review focuses on one such family of medicinal plants, called Lamiaceae, which has relieving and preventive action on CVD. Lamiaceae has a cosmopolitan distribution and has great importance in the traditional system of medicine. Lamiaceae members exhibit a wide range of activities like antioxidant, antihyperlipidemic, vasorelaxant, and thrombolytic effect, both in vitro and in vivo-these are mechanisms that contribute to different aspects of CVD including stroke, heart attack, and others. These plants harbour an array of bioactive compounds like phenolic acids, flavonoids, alkaloids, and other phytochemicals responsible for these actions. The review also highlights that these plants are a rich source of essential nutrients and minerals like omega-3 and hence, can serve as essential sources of functional foods-this can have an additional role in the prevention of CVDs. However, limitations still exist, and extensive research needs to be conducted on the Lamiaceae family in the quest to develop new and effective plant-based drugs and functional foods that can be used to treat and prevent cardiovascular diseases worldwide.