This study explored the antioxidant and immunomodulatory potential of ethnomedicinally valuable species, namely, Arisaema jacquemontii of north-western Himalayan region. The tubers, leaves, and fruits of this plant were subjected to extraction using different solvents. In vitro antioxidant studies were performed in terms of chelation power on ferrous ions and FRAP assay. The crude methanol extract of leaves was found to harbour better chelating capacity (58% at 100 μg/mL) and reducing power (FRAP value 1085.4 ± 0.11 μMFe3+/g dry wt.) than all the other extracts. The crude methanol extract was thus further partitioned with solvents to yield five fractions. Antioxidant study of fractions suggested that the methanol fraction possessed significant chelation capacity (49.7% at 100 μg/mL) and reducing power with FRAP value of 1435.4 μM/g dry wt. The fractions were also studied for immune modulating potential where it was observed that hexane fraction had significant suppressive effect on mitogen induced T-cell and B-cell proliferation and remarkable stimulating effect on humoral response by 141% and on DTH response by 168% in immune suppressed mice as compared to the controls. Therefore, it can be concluded that A. jacquemontii leaves hold considerable antioxidant and immunomodulating potential and they can be explored further for the identification of their chemical composition for a better understanding of their biological activities.

Valeriana jatamansi is an indigenous medicinal plant used in the treatment of a number of diseases. In the present study, chemical composition of the essential oil was determined by GC-MS. Seven major components were identified in Valeriana jatamansi essential oil, namely, β-vatirenene, β-patchoulene, dehydroaromadendrene, β-gurjunene, patchoulic alcohol, β-guaiene, and α-muurolene. Methanolic, aqueous, and chloroform extracts of Valeriana jatamansi roots were also prepared and analyzed for their polyphenols and flavonoid content. Antioxidant activity of essential oil and different extracts of Valeriana jatamansi roots was determined by DPPH radical scavenging and chelation power assay. A linear correlation has been obtained by comparing the antioxidant activity and polyphenols and flavonoid content of the extracts. Results indicated that antioxidant activity of methanolic extract could be attributed to the presence of rich amount of polyphenols and flavonoid. Essential oil of Valeriana jatamansi roots showed moderate antioxidant activity.

a b s t r a c tBackground: Cinnamomum verum bark (Cinnamon or dalchini in Hindi) and Cinnamomum tamala leaf (Indian bay leaf or tejpatta in Hindi) are commonly used spices in the Asian subcontinent. In the present study, we compared the bioactive potential of these spices. Method: The plants were collected and extracted with different solvents. The extracts were analysed for in vitro cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines by SRB assay. Antioxidant activity was measured in terms of DPPH radical scavenging and chelation power on ferrous ions. Relative phenolic content of extracts was also measured. Results: Comparative analysis demonstrated that C. verum (bark) has much greater cytotoxic as well as antioxidant potential than C. tamala (leaves). The bark methanol extract showed potential activity against prostrate (PC-3) and glioblastoma (T98G) cancer cell lines with 90% and 78% growth inhibition at 100 mg/ ml concentration respectively. The bark methanol extract also showed good DPPH free radical scavenging activity with IC 50 111.5 AE 0.62 mg/ml and moderate chelating power on ferrous ions IC 50 108.7 AE 0.53 mg/ ml. The total phenolic content of bark methanol extract was highest with 210 AE 0.81 mg/g GAE. Conclusion: This study highlights the relative greater bioactive potential of C. verum (bark) and it can be deduced that it is a highly effective cytotoxic, antioxidant spice than Indian bay leaf.

Chemical profile of the essential oils of three Eucalyptus species viz. Eucalyptus citriodora, Eucalyptus lanceolatus and Eucalyptus globulus was determined by GC-MS. Seventeen components were identified in E. globulus oil, among them p-cymene (31.88 %), eucalyptol (17.47 %), α-pinene (17.18 %), were the major components. Major components of E. lanceolatus oil were p-cymene (54.75 %), eucalyptol (18.88 %)and β-phellandrene (18.86 %) and four major monoterpenes compounds viz., Isopulegol (51.12 %), β-citronellal (29.15 %), L-isopulegol (11.49 %) and citronellyl acetate (5.77 %) were identified in E. citriodora oil. Antimicrobial activities of the essential oils were evaluated against seven bacterial and three plant pathogenic fungal strains. E. citriodora oil inhibited the growth of all the test bacterial strains with the significant inhibition against Pseudomonas alcaligenes (23±0.73 mm) and also showed potential antifungal activity especially against Alternaria alternata (IC 50 value 0.16±0.012 %). E. lanceolatus essential oil showed strong antibacterial activity against Micrococcus luteus (33±0.97 mm) and Bacillus subtilis (27±0.69 mm) and also possesses moderate antioxidant activity (IC 50 value 534±9.31 μg/ml) in DPPH system. E. citriodora and E. globulus showed negligible radical scavenging activity. Cytotoxic potential of the E. citriodora oil was found maximum against breast (T 47D) and prostrate (PC-3) cancer cell lines with 86 % and 76 % growth inhibitions, respectively. The present study emphasizes that E. citriodora essential oil is a potential inhibitor of different bacterial and fungal strains and also possesses significant cytotoxic activity against human cancer cell lines, whereas of E. lanceolatus essential oil is a noteworthy free radical scavenger.

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