Publications by authors named "Sofia Oliveira Ribeiro"

The increasing bacterial resistance to antibiotics is a worldwide concern. Essential oils are known to possess remarkable antibacterial properties, but their high chemical variability complicates their development into new antibacterial agents. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to standardize their chemical composition.

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Cocoa bean shell is one of the main by-products of chocolate manufacturing and possesses several compounds with biofunctionalities. It can function as an antibacterial agent, and its action is mostly reported against . However, only a few studies have investigated the cocoa bean shell compounds responsible for this activity.

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To fight the rising resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics, a strategy followed by several researchers is to focus on natural compounds, such as essential oils, as a source of potent antibacterial compounds. These last decades, hundreds of original papers have been written about microbiological assays that prove the antibacterial activity of essential oils and their use in the medical field. But can we really compare all the data available in the literature when the raw material, the microbiological assays, and/or the strains are different from one article to another? This review will point out the differences and the inadequate practices found in published articles that tested 2 lesser-studied essential oils-Spanish lavender and the ajowan-by the broth dilution method against , a human pathogenic bacterium.

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There is a huge concern in the medical field concerning the emergence of bacterial resistance to antibiotics. Essential oils are a source of antibacterial compounds that can overcome this problem. Ten essential oils that are commercially available were investigated in the present study: ajowan, basil, German chamomile, Chinese cinnamon, coriander, clove, lemongrass, Spanish lavender, oregano and palmarosa.

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Ethnopharmacological Relevance: Respiratory diseases and asthma, in particular, are nowadays a global health problem. In Rwanda, some traditional healers claim to treat asthma with plant-based recipes, though there is no scientific proof so far.

Aim Of The Study: Our study aimed at evaluating the toxicity and the anti-inflammatory effect of plant recipes used in Rwanda against asthma in order to select potential candidates for further characterization of the active compounds.

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The emergence of antimicrobial resistant infectious diseases remains a major threat to worldwide public health, in developed and in developing countries. Therefore, new antimicrobial agents acting by new mechanisms of action are urgently needed. As plants used in traditional medicine may help to overcome these problems, Justicia subsessilis, Platostoma rotundifolium, Pavetta ternifolia, Stomatanthes africanus, and Virectaria major (plants highly cited to be used against microbial infections in traditional Burundian medicine) were studied to assess their traditional use efficacy.

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