Ficus krishnae stem bark and leaves are used for diabetes treatment in traditional medicines. Stem bark of F. krishnae was sequentially extracted with hexane, methanol and water, and these extracts were tested for their antihyperglyceamic activity by oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) in overnight fasted glucose loaded normal rats. Hexane extract showed significant glucose lowering activity in OGTT, and the triterpene alcohols (cycloar-tenol+24-methylenecycloartanol) (CA+24-MCA) were isolated together from it by activity guided isolation and characterized by NMR and mass spectroscopy. The ratio of the chemical constituents CA and 24-MCA in (CA+24-MCA) was determined as 2.27:1.00 by chemical derivatization and gas chromatographic quantification. (CA+24-MCA) in high fat diet-streptozotocin induced type II diabetic rats showed significant antidiabetes activity at 1 mg/kg and ameliorated derailed blood glucose and other serum biochemical parameters. Cytoprotective activity of (CA+24-MCA) from glucose toxicity was evaluated in cultured RIN-5F cells by MTT assay and fluorescent microscopy. (CA+24-MCA) in in vitro studies showed enhanced cell viability in RIN-5F cells and significant protection of beta cells from glucose toxicity. Both in in vivo and in vitro studies (CA+24-MCA) showed enhancement in insulin release from the beta cells. In short term toxicity studies in mice (CA+24-MCA) did not show any conspicuous toxic symptoms. The combination of the phytosterols (CA+24-MCA) obtained through activity guided isolation of the stem bark of F. krishnae showed significant activity, and therefore is a promising candidate for new generation antidiabetes drug development.

An alternative ion chromatographic method to the existing USP method for the determination of N-methylpyrrolidine (NMP) in cefepime hydrochloride is developed. The cefepime in solution behaves as a strong cation and gets retained in the analytical column, leading to reduction in column capacity and irreproducible retention time. The retained drug has to be removed with a special rinsing solution, followed by re-equilibration with the mobile phase. This process takes at least 3 to 4 h time for sample analysis. We used a silica-based cation exchange column with poly-butadiene-maleic acid functional group attached with an optimized mobile phase composition. The characteristic feature of this method is the short analysis time with a clear separation of NMP and the cationic drug molecule within a run-time of 30 min. The developed method overcomes the limitations of the USP method. This method describes the matrix elimination by choosing appropriate column and eluent condition. The method is tested for selectivity, linearity, limits of detection and quantification, accuracy, and precision and is suitable for continuous sample analysis.

Garcinia gamblei, a new species of Garcinia from Ponmudi Hills, southern Western Ghats of India is described and illustrated. The new species is allied to G. pushpangadaniana another endemic species of southern Western Ghats.

Chromium exists in its two stable oxidation states including trivalent chromium (Cr (III)) and hexavalent chromium (Cr (VI)) in natural waters. Chromium is an essential micronutrient in the trivalent form; however, the hexavalent form of chromium is considered to be a carcinogen. It is important to determine the chromium content along with speciation. There are a number of methods available for chromium determination. Speciation of chromium is essential to know the exact composition of chromium. Ion exchange chromatography is one of the techniques used to determine Cr (VI). The proposed method can be used to perform the speciation of Cr (III) and Cr (VI). It is a two-step process: first Cr (VI) is determined, followed by total chromium determination by treating the sample with potassium permanganate solution to oxidize the Cr (III) present in the sample to Cr (VI) and determining it as Cr (VI). Conductivity detector is used for the detection. Addition of potassium permanganate solution to the ground water samples for oxidizing the Cr (III) to Cr (VI) is the newly adopted sample preparation technique. The effect of potassium permanganate oxidation is studied in detail in the proposed method. This method can be used for chromium speciation in river water and ground water samples.

Arsenic exists in the form of various chemical species differing in their physicochemical behavior, toxicity, bioavailability and biotransformation. The determination of arsenic species is an important issue for environmental, clinical and food chemistry. However, differentiation of these species is a quite complex analytical task. Numerous speciation procedures have been studied that include electrochemical, chromatographic, spectrometric and hyphenated techniques. Ion exchange chromatography is one of the techniques used to speciate inorganic arsenic i.e., arsenic (III) and arsenic (V). Both of these arsenic species are stable and exist as anions, arsenic (III) as arsenite (AsO33-) and arsenic (V) as arsenate (AsO43-). The proposed method can be used to perform the speciation of arsenic (III) and arsenic (V). It is a two-step process, first arsenic (V) is determined, followed by total arsenic determination by treating the sample with potassium permanganate solution to oxidize the arsenic (III) present in the sample to arsenic (V) and determining it as arsenic (V). Addition of potassium permanganate solution to the ground water samples for oxidizing the arsenic (III) to arsenic (V) is the newly adopted sample preparation technique and further determining it by ion exchange chromatography with conductivity detection. This method can be used for arsenic speciation in water samples from rivers and under the ground. Analytical validation and performance of the method is also discussed.