Content and Yield of L-DOPA and Bioactive Compounds of Broad Bean Plants: Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activity In Vitro.

The broad bean plant contains L-DOPA, a compound that is essential for patients with Parkinson's disease. However, little has been reported on other broad bean compounds that have beneficial effects on health. The objective was to evaluate plants of four Mexican broad bean varieties to determine the content and yield of total phenolic compounds (TPC), total flavonoids (TF), and L-DOPA, as well as to analyze the flavonoid profile and antioxidant (AA) and anti-inflammatory (AANTI) activity in vitro.

Phytoremediation assisted by mycorrhizal fungi of a Mexican defunct lead-acid battery recycling site.

A field experiment was conducted during 15 months to study the effects of four arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the growth of Ricinus communis accession SF7. Plants were established on amended soil (vermicompost:sawdust:soil 1:1:1) severely polluted by lead-acid batteries (LAB) located at Mexico State, Mexico. Plants inoculated with Acaulospora sp.

Biological activity of Claviceps gigantea in juvenile New Zealand rabbits.

The Ascomycete fungus Claviceps gigantea infects maize kernels and synthetizes several alkaloids, mostly dihydrolysergamides. There is limited information on the damage these toxins cause in mammals, despite reports from infested areas with 90% presence of the fungus sclerotia. With this background, it was decided to determine the biological activity of chemical compounds present in sclerotia of C.

Riparian plants on mine runoff in Zimapan, Hidalgo, Mexico: Useful for phytoremediation?

Dispersion and runoff of mine tailings have serious implications for human and ecosystem health in the surroundings of mines. Water, soils and plants were sampled in transects perpendicular to the Santiago stream in Zimapan, Hidalgo, which receives runoff sediments from two acidic and one alkaline mine tailing. Concentrations of potentially toxic elements (PTE) were measured in water, soils (rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere) and plants.

[Potential distribution and geographic characteristics of wild populations of Vanilla planifolia (Orchidaceae) Oaxaca, Mexico].

Wild specimens of Vanilla planifolia represent a vital part of this resource primary gene pool, and some plants have only been reported in Oaxaca, Mexico. For this reason, we studied its geographical distribution within the state, to locate and describe the ecological characteristics of the areas where they have been found, in order to identify potential areas of establishment. The method comprised four stages: 1) the creation of a database with herbarium records, 2) the construction of the potential distribution based on historical herbarium records for the species, using the model of maximum entropy (MaxEnt) and 22 bioclimatic variables as predictors; 3) an in situ systematic search of individuals, based on herbarium records and areas of potential distribution in 24 municipalities, to determine the habitat current situation and distribution; 4) the description of the environmental factors of potential ecological niches generated by MaxEnt.