R software for QSAR analysis in phytopharmacological studies.

Introduction: In recent decades, quantitative structure-activity relationship (QSAR) analysis has become an important method for drug design and natural product research. With the availability of bioinformatic and cheminformatic tools, a vast number of descriptors have been generated, making it challenging to select potential independent variables that are accurately related to the dependent response variable.

Objective: The objective of this study is to demonstrate various descriptor selection procedures, such as the Boruta approach, all subsets regression, the ANOVA approach, the AIC method, stepwise regression, and genetic algorithm, that can be used in QSAR studies.

Systematics, Phytochemistry, Biological Activities and Health Promoting Effects of the Plants from the Subfamily Bombacoideae (Family Malvaceae).

Plants belonging to the subfamily Bombacoideae (family Malvaceae) consist of about 304 species, many of them having high economical and medicinal properties. In the past, this plant group was put under Bombacaceae; however, modern molecular and phytochemical findings supported the group as a subfamily of Malvaceae. A detailed search on the number of publications related to the Bombacoideae subfamily was carried out in databases like PubMed and Science Direct using various keywords.

Plant utilization against digestive system disorder in Southern Assam, India.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Being one of the most common types of life threatening diseases in Southern Assam, India, the digestive system disorders (DSD) have gained much attention in recent decades. Traditional beliefs and inadequate income of mass population result in the use of alternative phytotherapies to treat the diseases.

Aim Of The Study: The present paper documents the medicinal knowledge and utilization of plants for treatment of digestive system disorders in Southern Assam, India by Disease Consensus Index (DCI).

Ethnomedicinal plants used by traditional healers of North Tripura district, Tripura, North East India.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Information about ethnomedicinal plants used by traditional healers in Tripura, India is very much limited. As there is rapid erosion of traditional knowledge in the state, needs has arisen to document the diversity of medicinal plants, their preparation and associated diseases.

Aim Of The Study: Attempts have been made to explore the herbal medicines used by the traditional healers belonging to the various communities in North Tripura district of Tripura, India and document the associated traditional knowledge on the utilisation of medicinal plants.

NoSQL data model for semi-automatic integration of ethnomedicinal plant data from multiple sources.

Introduction: Sharing traditional knowledge with the scientific community could refine scientific approaches to phytochemical investigation and conservation of ethnomedicinal plants. As such, integration of traditional knowledge with scientific data using a single platform for sharing is greatly needed. However, ethnomedicinal data are available in heterogeneous formats, which depend on cultural aspects, survey methodology and focus of the study.

Traditional uses of herbal vapour therapy in Manipur, North East India: an ethnobotanical survey.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Vapour-based medicines are an aspect of traditional medicine in North East India. However, no collective studies on this therapy in the region have been attempted. With the changing perception of traditional knowledge, documenting these herbal preparations and the subsequent development of baseline data for applications in further ethnopharmacological research are needed.

Challenges in developing medicinal plant databases for sharing ethnopharmacological knowledge.

Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Major research contributions in ethnopharmacology have generated vast amount of data associated with medicinal plants. Computerized databases facilitate data management and analysis making coherent information available to researchers, planners and other users. Web-based databases also facilitate knowledge transmission and feed the circle of information exchange between the ethnopharmacological studies and public audience.