Schiff bases are substances prepared generally by the condensation reaction of aldehydes or ketones with amines. They may have substituted aliphatic or aromatic side chains, and hence show extensive biological activities. It is reported that these molecules play an important role in the synthesis of various drugs. This paper focus on the biological activities of Schiff bases of various types and hence makes them important precursors in designing drugs for medical treatment. The biological applications of Schiff bases can be extended from antimicrobial, plant growth regulator, antioxidant, enzymatic, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-malarial, antiviral, neuroprotective, analgesic, anti-convulsant to neurotoxic activities. They also serve as a dominant class of ligands with a variety of binding sites for coordination with metals.

No abstract

Great attention has been focused on medicinal plants and phytoconstituents due to their free radicals scavenging tendency. The present study investigates the comparative antioxidant ability of aqueous extracts of flower of Aloe vera and leaf of Aloe ferox. Antioxidant activity was assessed by using the DPPH, FRAP and ABTS + free-radical method. The IC50 values of aqueous extracts of flower of the A. vera and leaf of A. ferox in DPPH assay were 406.04 and 517.01 µg/ml, in ABTS + radical scavenging assay were 44.72 and 173.05 µg/ml, EC1 in FRAP assay were 0.28 and 0.51 (mg/ml) respectively. Results of the present study showed that antioxidant capacity of whole leaf of Aloe ferox Mill was significantly higher than Aloe vera flowers.

No abstract

The recent advancements in field of genomics and synthetic biology has paved the way for determination and utilization of pharmaceutical properties of beneficial plants. Foeniculum vulgare is a member of Apiaceae family, commonly known as fennel. It is globally distributed aromatic medicinal herb. F. vulgare falls in the category of World’s most important medicinal herb because of its economic status and pharmaceutical industrial applications. It has been used as herbal treatment for a longer period of time as an effective medicine to cure different ailments such as liver pain, kidney disorders, swollen stomach, abdominal pain, and mouth ulcerand no documented severe side effects reported. Essential oil, flavonoids and phenolic compounds are major chemical constituents of F.vulgare. Volatile and non-volatile compounds of this plant are responsible for its biological activities. The Pharmacological experiments performed by in vitro and in vivo models, revealed that F. vulgare has strong therapeutic effects. This review is supposed to shed the light on anti-bacterial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antifungal, antimicrobial, antianxiety, hepatoprotective, memory protective, acaricidal, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and anti-mutagenic activities.