Antioxidant, antimicrobial and DNA damage protecting potential of hot taste spices: a comparative approach to validate their utilization as functional foods.

Hot taste spices have enormous health benefits starting from kitchen to pharmaceutical laboratories. Our present study is focused on phytochemical and pharmacological screening of six hot taste spices namely (ginger), (chilli), (java long pepper), (black pepper), (clove), (carom). Among all six spices, clove and ginger exhibited strong antioxidant activity owing to higher phytochemical contents.

The defense system for Bidens pilosa root exudate treatments in Pteris multifida gametophyte.

According to the novel weapons hypothesis, root exudates are the inhibition factors for native species growth and development through invasive plants. It is hypothesized that antioxidant system (AOS) presents an effective role in plant defense system. The allelopathy indexes of P.

Potential use of halophytes to remediate saline soils.

Salinity is one of the rising problems causing tremendous yield losses in many regions of the world especially in arid and semiarid regions. To maximize crop productivity, these areas should be brought under utilization where there are options for removing salinity or using the salt-tolerant crops. Use of salt-tolerant crops does not remove the salt and hence halophytes that have capacity to accumulate and exclude the salt can be an effective way.

Phenolic-linked biochemical rationale for the anti-diabetic properties of Swertia chirayita (Roxb. ex Flem.) Karst.

The crude extract of Swertia chirayita, an important medicinal plant of Nepal, is locally used for many diseases including type 2 diabetes. In this study, crude aqueous and 12% ethanol solution extracts of S. chirayita collected from nine districts of Nepal were analyzed for anti-diabetic-linked anti-hyperglycemia potential using in vitro biochemical assays.

Clonal response to cold tolerance in creeping bentgrass and role of proline-associated pentose phosphate pathway.

Single seed origin creeping bentgrass ('Penncross') clonal lines were screened to find genetic heterogeneity, which reflected diversity of phenolic production linked to cold stress within a cross-pollinated cultivar. In this study, total soluble phenolic and antioxidant activity varied among 20 creeping bentgrass clonal lines, confirming wide heterogeneity in this cross-pollinated species. Correlations between phenolic content and proline-associated pentose phosphate pathway were also found among the clonal lines.

Bioavailability of allelochemicals as affected by companion compounds in soil matrices.

Multicompound allelochemical interactions were studied using Centaurea maculosa as a model source to understand how the bioavailability of complex allelochemical mixtures is modified in soil-microbial systems. Litter decomposition of C. maculosa in sandy loam soil yielded five phenolic acids, namely, hydroxybenzoic, vanillic, protocatechuic, p-coumaric, and ferulic acids.

Preferential sorption of phenolic phytotoxins to soil: implications for altering the availability of allelochemicals.

Allelopathy, secondary metabolite-mediated plant-to-plant interaction, is gaining application in current agricultural science as well as in invasion ecology. However, the role of sorption to soil in modifying the bioavailability of components in complex allelochemical mixtures is still obscure. Hence, the role of preferential sorption to soil in altering the chemical composition of plant exudates was studied in a silt loam soil using representative mixtures of plant phenolic acids, namely, hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid, coumaric acid, and ferulic acid.