Do Vermicompost Applications Improve Growth Performance, Pharmaceutically Important Alkaloids, Phenolic Content, Free Radical Scavenging Potency and Defense Enzyme Activities in Summer Snowflake (Leucojum aestivum L.)?

Leucojum aestivum L. contains galanthamine and lycorine, which are two pharmaceutically valuable alkaloids. Vermicompost (VC), an organic waste product created by earthworms enhances soil quality and can improve the medicinal quality of the plant that is crucial to the pharmaceutical industry. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of four different VC concentrations (5 %, 10 %, 25 %, and 50 %) on L. aestivum growth parameters, alkaloid levels (galanthamine and lycorine), total phenol-flavonoid content, free radical scavenging potential, and defense enzyme activities (SOD and CAT) compared to control (no VC). The width, length, and fresh weight of the leaves were improved by 10 % VC treatment. The highest total phenolic content was found in the bulbs and leaves treated with 50 % VC. HPLC-DAD analysis of alkaloids showed that 10 % and 50 % VC treatments contained the most galanthamine in the bulb and leaf extracts, respectively. The application of 25 % VC was the most efficient in terms of lycorine content in both extracts. CAT activity was elevated at 10 %, 25 %, and 50 % VC. Based on the growth performance and galanthamine content of the bulbs and leaves, it can be concluded that a 10 % VC application was the most effective in the cultivation of L. aestivum.

EVALUATION OF ANTIBACTERIAL, ANTITUMOR, ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES AND PHENOLIC CONSTITUENTS OF FIELD-GROWN AND IN VITRO-GROWN LYSIMACHIA VULGARIS L.

BACKGROUND: Lysimachia vulgaris L. (Yellow loosestrife) is a medicinal plant in the family Myrsinaceae. It has been used in the treatment of fever, ulcer, diarrhea and wounds in folk medicine. It has also analgesic, expectorant, astringent and anti-inflammatory activities. Two different sources of the plant (field-grown and in vitro-grown) were used to evaluate the biological activities (antibacterial, antitumor and antioxidant) of L. vulgaris. In vitro-grown plant materials were collected from L. vulgaris plants that were previously regenerated in our laboratory. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Plant materials were extracted with water, ethanol and acetone. For antibacterial test, disc diffusion method and 10 different pathogenic bacteria were used. Antioxidant activity was indicated by using DPPH method. The total phenol amount by using Folin-Ciocaltaeu method and the total flavonoid amount by using aluminum chloride (AlCl3) colorimetric method were determined. RESULTS: Generally, yellow loosestrife extracts demonstrated antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis and Streptococcus pyogenes). Strong antitumor activity of yellow loosestrife was observed via potato disc diffusion bioassay. Nine different phenolics were also determined and compared by using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). CONCLUSION: Future investigations should be focused on fractionation of the extracts to identify active components for biological activity.

Screening for antibacterial activity of some Turkish plants against fish pathogens: a possible alternative in the treatment of bacterial infections.

The antibacterial activity of ethanolic and aqueous crude extracts from 36 plants in Turkey, including seven endemic species, against fish pathogens was studied using the disc diffusion assay. The extract that was most active against all microbial strains, except Aeromonas salmonicida, was that of Dorycnium pentaphyllum. Some of the extracts also showed a very broad spectrum of potent antimicrobial activity. The extract of Anemone nemorosa showed the highest antimicrobial activity against Vibrio anguillarum. V. anguillarum, a Gram-negative bacterium, appeared to be the most susceptible to the plant extracts used in this experiment. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the antimicrobial activity of 11 of the studied plants. The preliminary screening assay indicated that some of the Turkish plants with antibacterial properties may offer alternative therapeutic agents against bacterial infections in aquaculture industry.

Antibacterial and antitumour activities of some plants grown in Turkey.

Screening of antibacterial and antitumour activities of 33 different extracts prepared with three types of solvents (water, ethanol and methanol) was conducted. The extracts were obtained from 11 different plant species grown in Turkey: Eryngium campestre L., Alchemilla mollis (Buser) Rothm., Dorycnium pentaphyllum Scop., Coronilla varia L., Onobrychis oxyodonta Boiss., Fritillaria pontica Wahlenb., Asarum europaeum L., Rhinanthus angustifolius C. C. Gmelin, Doronicum orientale Hoffm., Campanula glomerata L. and Campanula olympica Boiss. Antibacterial activity against six bacteria was evaluated: Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis by using disc diffusion and well diffusion methods. S. aureus and S. epidermidis were most sensitive to the methanolic extract from A. europaeum. S. pyogenes was vulnerable to all used extracts of D. orientale. In addition, ethanolic or methanolic extracts of E. campestre, A. mollis, D. pentaphyllum, C. varia, R. angustifolius, C. glomerata and C. olympica displayed strong antibacterial activity against at least one of the tested gram-negative bacteria. The methanolic extract from R. angustifolius showed a broad-spectrum activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Antitumour activity was evaluated with Agrobacterium-tumefaciens-induced potato disc tumour assay. Best antitumour activity was obtained with the aqueous extract from A. europaeum and methanolic extract from E. campestre (100% and 86% tumour inhibition, respectively).

In vitro antibacterial and antitumor activities of some medicinal plant extracts, growing in Turkey.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate antibacterial and antitumor activities of 51 different extracts prepared with 3 types of solvents (water, ethanol and methanol) of 16 different plant species (Ajuga reptans (A. reptans) L., Phlomis pungens (P. pungens) Willd., Marrubium astracanicum (M. astracanicum) Jacq., Nepeta nuda (N. nuda) L., Stachys annua (S. annua) L., Genista lydia (G. lydia) Boiss., Nuphar lutea (N. lutea) L., Nymphaea alba (N. alba) L., Vinca minor (V. minor) L., Stellaria media (S. media) L., Capsella bursa-pastoris (C. bursa-pastoris) L., Galium spurium (G. spurium) L., Onosma heterophyllum (O. heterophyllum) Griseb., Reseda luteola (R. luteola) L., Viburnum lantana (V. lantana) L. and Mercurialis annua (M. annua) L.) grown in Turkey was conducted. METHODS: Antibacterial activity was evaluated with 10 bacteria including Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis), Escheria coli (E. coli), Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa), Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium), Serratia marcescens (S. marcescens), Proteus vulgaris (P. vulgaris), Enterobacter cloacae (E. cloacea), and Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) by using disc diffusion method. Antitumor activity was evaluated with Agrobacterium tumefaciens (A. tumefaciens)-induced potato disc tumor assay. RESULTS: Best antibacterial activity was obtained with ethanolic extract of P. pungens against S. pyogenes. Ethanolic and methanolic extract of N. alba and ethanolic extract of G. lydia also showed strong antibacterial activities. Results indicated that alcoholic extracts especially ethanolic extracts exhibited strong antibacterial activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria. Best antitumor activity was obtained with methanolic extracts of N. alba and V. lantana (100% tumor inhibition). Ethanolic extract of N. alba, alcoholic extracts of N. lutea, A. reptans and V. minor flowers, methanolic extracts of G. lydia and O. heterophyllum and ethanolic extract of V. lantana and aqueous extract of V. minor leaves exhibited strong tumor inhibitions. CONCLUSIONS: In near future works, identification of active components can be studied for plant extracts having strong bioactivity.