A Systematic Review of Endemic to South Africa: Phytochemistry, Pharmacology, and Toxicology.

The use of traditional medicine in treating a variety of both human and animal infections is ancient and still relevant. This is due to the resistance exhibited by most pathogenic microbial stains to currently-used antibiotics. The current work reports the phytochemistry, ethno-medicinal uses, toxicology, and most important pharmacological activities that validate the use of the plant species in African traditional medicine.

In Vitro α-Glucosidase and α-Amylase Inhibition, Cytotoxicity and Free Radical Scavenging Profiling of the 6-Halogeno and Mixed 6,8-Dihalogenated 2-Aryl-4-methyl-1,2-dihydroquinazoline 3-Oxides.

Series of the 6-bromo/iodo substituted 2-aryl-4-methyl-1,2-dihydroquinazoline-3-oxides and their mixed 6,8-dihalogenated (Br/I and I/Br) derivatives were evaluated for inhibitory properties against α-glucosidase and/or α-amylase activities and for cytotoxicity against breast (MCF-7) and lung (A549) cancer cell lines. The 6-bromo-2-phenyl substituted and its corresponding 6-bromo-8-iodo-2-phenyl-substituted derivative exhibited dual activity against α-glucosidase (IC = 1.08 ± 0.

In Vitro Pharmacological Activity, and Comparison GC-ToF-MS Profiling of Extracts from (Baker) Planch.

(Baker) Planch is traditionally used in South African traditional medicine (SATM) to treat a variety of human infections. The antimicrobial activity of extracts from was investigated in vitro against a plethora of pathogenic microorganisms using the microdilution assay. The acetone extract exhibited a notable minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) value of 0.

The attenuation of antibiotic resistant non-albicans species, cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory effects and phytochemical profiles of five species by FTIR and UHPLC-Q/Orbitrap/MS.

This work investigated the antifungal, cytotoxic and LPS-induced anti-inflammatory effects of five species (, , and ). The antifungal activity of the aqueous-methanolic extracts were performed using the broth dilution method against four non-albicans species (, and ). The cytotoxic and anti-inflammatory effects of the extracts were evaluated on African green monkey Vero kidney cells using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) colorimetric assay and the 2',7'-dichlorofluorescin diacetate (HDCF-DA) method.

Toxicity evaluation of TiO/MWCNT-CNF hybrid nanocomposites with enhanced photocatalytic activity toward freshwater microalgae: Pseudokirchneriella subcapitata.

A wide range of semiconductor-assisted photocatalytic nanomaterials (NMs) are currently being considered and investigated as potential photocatalysts in water treatment. The applications of nanocomposites composed of nano-structured titania (nano-TiO) and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanocomposites is growing markedly on account of enhanced photocatalytic efficiency. However, concurrent with the increasing production and application comes a serious concern of these emerging nanosystems about their potential risks in aquatic systems, and thereby potentially threatening aquatic organisms via toxic mechanisms that are, at present, poorly understood.

Metabolomic Profiling of Antioxidant Compounds in Five Species.

The genus , previously known as Acacia, belongs to the family Fabaceae, subfamily Leguminosae, which are flowering plants, commonly known as thorn trees. They are traditionally used medicinally in various countries including South Africa for the treatment of ailments such as fever, sore throat, Tuberculosis, convulsions and as sedatives. The aim of this study was to determine biochemical variations in five species and correlate their metabolite profiles to antioxidant activity using a chemometric approach.

Willd. (Rhamnaceae): it's botany, toxicity, phytochemistry and pharmacological activities.

is an important multi-purpose plant species that has been used in African traditional medicine for ages in the treatment of various devastating human and animal infections. The current paper is aimed at providing an overview of uses, toxicology, pharmacological properties and phytochemistry of . The information used in the current work was retrieved using various search engines, including Pubmed, Science Direct, Google Scholar, Scielo, SciFinder and Scopus.

Antifungal, anti-oxidant activity and cytotoxicity of South African medicinal plants against mycotoxigenic fungi.

Fungal strains belonging to genus and are known to infect crops, resulting in threatened food security and less agricultural crop yields. The aim of the current work was to investigate the anti-mycotoxigenic activity, cytotoxic effect and antioxidant potential of selected South African medicinal plants extracts. The aqueous and organic extracts of the leaves from selected medicinal plants were investigated for their antifungal activity against various fungal strains that are known to infect crops and produce mycotoxins.

In vitro antibacterial and cytotoxic activity of leaf extracts of Centella asiatica (L.) Urb, Warburgia salutaris (Bertol. F.) Chiov and Curtisia dentata (Burm. F.) C.A.Sm - medicinal plants used in South Africa.

Background: Compounds having both anticancer and antimicrobial activity have promising therapeutic potential due to their selective cytotoxicity and their potential to reduce the occurrence of bacterial and fungal infections in immune-compromised cancer patients. In our quest to find new antimicrobial agents with potent anticancer activity, the biological potential of leaves from the three medicinal plants Centella asiatica, Warburgia salutaris and Curtisia dentata as used by Zulu traditional healers for the treatment of cancer is investigated.

Methods: Extracts were assayed for antibacterial activity using the agar well diffusion and micro plate dilution assay.

Defunct gold mine tailings are natural reservoir for unique bacterial communities revealed by high-throughput sequencing analysis.

Mine tailing dumps are arguably one of the leading sources of environmental degradation with often both public health and ecologically consequences. The present study investigated the concentration of heavy metals in gold mine tailings, and used high throughput sequencing techniques to determine the microbial community diversity of these tailings using 16S rRNA gene based amplicon sequence analysis. The concentration of detected metals and metalloids followed the order Si > Al > Fe > K > Ca > Mg.

Some physical and functional properties of finger millet (Eleusine coracana) obtained in sub-Saharan Africa.

The study determined the physical properties of finger millet (FM) (Eluesine coracana) grains and the functional properties of FM flour. Physical properties such as colour attributes, sample weight, bulk density, true density, porosity, surface area, sample volume, aspect ratio, sphericity, dimensional properties and moisture content of grain cultivars were determined. Water absorption capacity (WAC), bulk density (BD), dispersibility, viscosity and micro-structure of FM flours were also evaluated.

Potential biotechnological capabilities of cultivable mycobiota from carwash effluents.

Urban life has created man-made extreme environments like carwashes. These environments have, however, not been sufficiently explored for mycobiota that can be sources of biotechnologically useful products, as has been the case with natural extreme environments. Using a combination of culture and molecular techniques, fungi from carwash effluents was characterized for production of lipase and cellulase enzymes, nonpolar and polar biotechnologically relevant secondary metabolites and hydrocarbon utilization.

Diversity Analysis and Bioresource Characterization of Halophilic Bacteria Isolated from a South African Saltpan.

Though intensive research has been channeled towards the biotechnological applications of halophiles and other extremophilic microbes, these studies have not been, by any means, exhaustive. Saline environments still offer a vast diversity of microbes with potential to produce an array of natural products which can only be unlocked by concerted research efforts. In this study, a combination of culture and molecular approaches were employed to characterize halophilic bacteria from saltpan water samples and profile their potential biotechnological applications.