BIOCHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF Ferula rutbaensis MEDICINAL PLANT IN IRAQI WESTERN DESERT

Abstract

Plants used in folk medicine not only represent rich sources for therapeutic materials, but it also plays a crucial role in developing completely or partially novel synthesized drugs. Mharut plant (Ferula rutbaensis) is an integral part of Bedouin therapeutic practices in the western desert of Anbar province-Iraq. Still, to date, this is the first study describing its phytochemical constituents. The plant was growing near the Iraq-Saudi Arabia borders and adapted to a wide range of soils. Traditionally, F. rutbaensis has been widely used to treat acne, stomach and bowel disorders, food poisoning and respiratory problems. Fresh plant samples were collected and morphologically characterized. Likewise, the ITS-based DNA barcoding technique was efficiently used to approve the morphological identification of F. rutbaensis. The GC-MS spectrum was adopted in the phytochemical characterization of aqueous and methanol extracts of fresh and dry plant parts. The aqueous extract of dry roots was the richest source for bioactive compounds than fresh or methanolic extracts of either fresh or dry plant parts. In general, the detected phytochemicals falling into fatty acids, terpenes, hydrocarbon alkanes, and esters. Notably, fatty acids in Oleic and Palmitic acids were the two most abundant bioactive compounds in both aqueous and methanolic extracts of plant fresh and dry roots. The detected unsaturated fatty acids and/or other bioactive components are laying behind the therapeutic properties of F. rutbaensis that can be useful ingredients to prepare Mharut-based cosmetics such as medical soaps, body lotions, skin conditioners and sunscreens. Additionally, some other components were found to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidants, and antimicrobial properties. Further investigations will be necessary to confirm the antimicrobial activity of F. rutbaensis extracts.

Effect of Spraying With Vitamin B9 and E, and the Amino Acid Arginine of Some Growth Characters for Two Varieties of Maize

“…and 64.57 day, while the Baghdad3 variety needed a longer period to reach this stage, reaching 63.48 and 65.95 day for the two seasons, respectively. Perhaps the reason for this is due to the differences between these two varieties in the period of their reaching 75% anthesis (non-visible data) (the appearance of female inflorescences between 3-7 days after the emergence of male inflorescences) and the reason could be due to the difference in the genotypes of yellow corn in the period of its reaching 75% silking, and this is consistent with what was indicated by Dhannoon et al (17), Okab and Abed (27) , Abdulla et al (2), and data shows in the same Table indicates that the spraying treatment with vitamin E at a concentration of 2 g L -1 produced the shortest time to reach this stage with mean 61.33 and 63.67 days for the both seasons, respectively, while the longest time was gave when spraying treatment B2 with a concentration of 2 g L -1 in the first season and E1 with 1 g L -1 in the second season gave 64.17 and 67.00 day for the both seasons, respectively. 2 indicates that there is no significant effects of varieties on the characteristic of the number of days from silking to physiological maturity in the both seasons, while this characteristic was affected by the concentrations of vitamins and amino acid sprays, as well as the interaction between the two factors and the both seasons, the concentration gave 2 g L -1 of vitamin B9 for the shortest period.…”