India has one of the most expanded plant-origin medical traditions in the world. Researchers have evaluated molecules obtained from plants to treat a variety of ailments. Literature review shows that fundamental parts of the plant are used to treat different diseases. The related data is retrieved from Google scholar, PubMed, Science Direct and Scopus. The keywords include Bael, A. marmelos, Vilvam, and Marmelosin. Extensive studies show that A. marmelos has antidiarrhoeal, antimicrobial, antiviral, anticancer, chemopreventive, antipyretic, ulcer healing, antigenotoxic, diuretic, antifertility, and anti-inflammatory properties. In this work, an updated literature review is presented to clarify the current state of research on A. marmelos elucidating its constituents and their most relevant biological activities.

Skin and wound infections might trigger severe secondary complications when left untreated. A proper balance between reactive oxygen species generation and antioxidant formation is necessary to achieve redox haemostasis. Luisia tenuifolia Blume (Orchidaceae) has been traditionally applied on cuts, boils and wounds in regions of Western Ghats. The present study was aimed to validate the antioxidant and antibacterial effect of the whole plants of Luisia tenuifolia against five pathogenic bacteria often responsible for skin and wound infections The whole plants of L.tenuifolia, after drying under shade, was pulverised, successively extracted with solvents of different polarity and evaporated to dryness. The hydrogen peroxide scavenging potential of all the four extracts was determined by H2O2 assay. The agar-well diffusion technique was employed for the preliminary screening of antibacterial activity. Further, the minimum inhibitory concentration was determined by broth-dilution assay. Among the four extracts, the ethanol extract of L. tenuifolia exhibited a strong antioxidant activity with an IC50 value of 42.61μg/mL compared to the standard Ascorbic acid (IC50 value of 21.56μg/mL). Moreover, the n-hexane extract was found to be more effective against Staphylococcus aureus whereas the ethanol extract exhibited highest antibacterial effect on Streptococcus oralis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Aeromonas hydrophila and Escherichia coli. Furthermore, the ethanol extract was found to be a promising antibacterial candidate with an MIC value of 0.312μg/mL against S.oralis and A.hydrophila. Thus the current study validate the antioxidant and antibacterial potential of L. tenuifolia whole plant extracts and further studies were aimed at identification of active components responsible for the activity.

Objective: The objective of this study was to establish the cytotoxicity profile and to evaluate the insulin secretagogue effect of ethanolic root extract of Ravenala madagascariensis Sonn. Methods: The cell viability of rat insulinoma 5F (RIN5F) cell lines over the treatment of plant extract was assessed by 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)- 2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay. The insulin-releasing effect was evaluated by insulin secretion assay over RIN5F cell lines by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: The ethanolic extract of the roots of R. madagascariensis Sonn. showed negligible cytotoxicity at 20–40 μg/ml, and hence, concentrations up to 40 μg/ml were used in insulin secretion assay. The ethanolic root extract at 20 and 40 μg/ml significantly (p<0.05 compared to control) stimulated the insulin release in a dose-dependent manner even in the presence of glucose at lower and higher concentrations (5 and 10 mM). Conclusion: Thus, our results validate its traditional claim in the treatment of diabetes by stimulating the secretion of insulin, thereby suggesting a possible mechanism of its antidiabetic effect.