Horticultural oils: possible alternatives to chemical pesticides and insecticides.

The farmers and agrochemical industries lack science-based knowledge about sustainable utilization of pesticides and insecticides. The investigation on rising use of chemical pesticides and insecticides has remarkable issue related to environment pollution, soil fertility, and human health; as such, nowadays, many people prefer natural alternatives over synthetic chemicals. Natural products, like horticultural oils, play a significant role for sustainable and safe integrated pest management, providing natural alternatives to chemical pesticides and insecticides. For several decades, both plant- and petroleum-based spray oils have been always used to control various pests, mites, and insects. Currently, these horticultural oils are used as a part of the integrated pest management, which utilizes secure and non-chemical pesticides rather than conventional pesticides. Horticultural oil refers to a complex mixture of hydro-carbons with traces of sulfur- and nitrogen-based compounds, extracted from plants. The key components of horticultural oils include paraffin and olefin. The horticultural oils are considered suitable since they are non-toxic to both plants and animals, are applied easily, have low risk properties, cost-effective, and play significant role in pest control, but show little effects on the beneficial insects. As a result, these attributes make horticultural oils to be considered as secure and effective alternative for chemical insecticides and pesticides for both commercial and domestic agriculture.

Utilization of Dianthus superbus L and its bioactive compounds for antioxidant, anti-influenza and toxicological effects.

Dianthus superbus (DS) is a traditional medicinal herb well known for its medicinal and therapeutic potential and widely distributed in various Asian countries. The ethyl acetate (EA), butanol (Bu) and distilled water (DW) extracts of DS assessed for extraction of bioactive compounds and their biological activities. The chemical analysis was done using LC-MS/MS and antioxidant, anticancer and antiviral activities were determined. EA extracts showed strong anticancer activity with IC50 of 9.5, 13.8 and 69.9 µg/mL on SKOV, NCL-H1299 and Caski cancer cell lines, respectively. The Bu extracts exhibited strongest antiviral activity with respect to both influenza A and B viruses with IC50 values of 4.97 and 3.9 µg/mL, respectively. Also the metabolic profile for EA, Bu and DW extracts shows high variations and influence precisely the antioxidant, anticancer and antiviral properties. The quercetin 3- rutinoside and isorhamnetin 3- glucoside showed higher neuraminidase inhibition activity in dose dependent manner. Molecular docking study revealed that flavonol glycosides have higher binding activities towards influenza polymerase membrane glycoprotein. Correlation study showed that flavonol glycosides were linked to anti-influenza activity and cyclic peptides with anticancer activities. This study provides vital information for effective utilization of DS for medicinal, food and therapeutic purposes.

Potential cow milk xanthine oxidase inhibitory and antioxidant activity of selected phenolic acid derivatives.

Xanthine oxidase (XO) found in all mammals and excess activity leads to urolithiasis. The cow milk XO was purified to 305-fold with a specific activity of 8.76 EU/mg and overall yield of 87% by using DEAE-Sepharose chromatography. The phenolics showed potent XO inhibitory effect with Ki , P1 (0.412), P2 (0.632), P3 (0.585), P4 (0.886), P5 (1.633), P6 (0.503), P7 (2.882), P8 (3.761), P9 (4.487), and P10 (5.841) µM. The phenolics P9 and P10 exhibited uncompetitive inhibition; the phenolics P1, P2, P3, P4, and P6 showed competitive inhibition, and other phenolic acids showed noncompetitive inhibition. The studied phenolic compounds showed potent antioxidant activity and expressed as EC50 , ranged from, DPPH (4.2-25.8 µg mL-1 ), ABTS (10.2-42.5 mmol TE 100 g-1 ), and FRAP (6.3-36.8 mol Fe (II) 100 g-1 ). The results obtained from this study might be utilized for design of XO inhibitors and as antigout agent.