Determination of manganese in some medicinal plants and their infusions by a catalytic spectrophotometric method

Biological Activities and Phytochemicals of Lungworts (Genus Pulmonaria) Focusing on Pulmonaria officinalis

Lungworts (members of genus Pulmonaria), especially Pulmonaria officinalis, have been used as medicinal plants in folk and traditional medicine. The potential biological activities of lungworts, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-neurodegenerative, skin whitening, anticoagulant, antibacterial, anti-anemic, anticonvulsant, and wound-healing properties, have been observed in different studies. More than 90 phytochemicals belonging to pharmacologically active phytochemical classes have been reported for lungworts, which can be considered as one of the important contributors to the biological properties along with micronutrients. However, safety studies and clinical trials are missing for lungworts to establish most of their potential biological properties. Similarly, in vivo studies are lacking for anti-inflammatory and anti-neurodegenerative disorders and more in vivo studies are required to strengthen the knowledge of their antioxidant, anticoagulant, and anti-convulsant properties. A comprehensive compilation of the phytochemicals and biological properties of lungworts is also lacking in the literature, which can provide future direction for further pharmacological research. Hence, an attempt has been made in this study to compile the phytochemicals and biological properties to not only provide the resources for the design of further research to develop the pharmacological application of lungworts, but also to highlight the gaps and provide suggestions for future development.

Ferric-bipyridine assay: A novel spectrophotometric method for measurement of antioxidant capacity

Measurement of the antioxidant potential using in vitro assays is paramount in the assessment of various food products and nutraceuticals. Researchers always attempt to develop more accurate assays which can be performed in unsophisticated conditions. This novel method, Ferric-Bipyridine reducing capacity of total antioxidants (FBRC) is a very simple, accurate assay performed based on the reduction of Fe (III) to Fe (II) by antioxidants with the formation of a colored complex with bipyridine (Bp) i.e, Fe(II)-Bp. The FBRC method thus developed was assessed under carefully adjusted parameters of oxidant concentration, pH, temperature, solvent, light and time in order to fix the optimum conditions for the assay. The spectrophotometric monitoring of Fe(II)-Bp complex was noted by the formation of an intense pink color at room temperature with absorption maxima at 535 nm, pH 4. The analytical performance of this method was fully validated, and the obtained results were satisfactory. It was successfully applied to measure the total antioxidant capacity of standard compounds such as gallic acid, ascorbic acid and butylated hydroxy toluene (BHT), in addition to some plant extracts and oils. The FBRC method is inexpensive, reproducible and simple to perform. In addition, the antioxidant activity of the tested compounds compared to common reference methods showed that the novel FBRC method is superior to the Ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) with regard to its use of realistic pH and faster kinetics. Thus, the FBRC method is convenient for the estimation of total antioxidant in plants extracts, natural products, essential oils and food stuff.