ISOFLAVONES FROM ASTRAGALUS MEMBRANACEUS

Two new isoflavones (8, 3'-dihydroxy-7,4'-dimethoxyisoflavone, odoratin-7-0-[3-D-glu-copyranoside) and four known isoflavones (formononetin, 7,3'-dihydroxy-8,4'-dimethoxyisoflavone, calycosin, calycosin-7-0-(3-D-glucopyranoside) were isolated from the roots of Astragalus mem-branaceus (Fisch.) Bunge. Their structures were established by spectral analysis.

Application of Biological Pesticides in Medicinal Plants

At present, the excessive application of traditional chemical pesticides, serious pesticide residue pollution and destruction of the ecological balance in China have become important factors affecting the quality and safety of medicinal material. Biological pesticides are rapidly developed due to their characteristics of high efficiency, low toxicity and residue. This study aimed to introduce the specific property of biological pesticides, review the classification of biological pesticides and their application in medicinal plants, analyze the problems in the production and utilization process of biological pesticides, and forecast the developmental prospect.

The Alkaloids from Leaves of Croton hemiargyerius var. gymnodiscus

Aim Investigation of alkaloids from the leaves of Brazilian medicinal plantCroton hemiargyerius var. gymnodiscus. Methods Silica gel column chromatography was used repeatedlyfor the isolation and purification, and their structures were identified by extensive spectroscopyand comparison of the chemical and physical data with those of authentic samples reported inliterature. Results Twelve alkaloids were isolated and their structures were identified. ConclusionFour new alkaloids named hemiargines A (1), B (5), C (6) and D (7), together with eight knownalkaloids namely isoc-orydine (2), corydine (3), norcorydine (4), salutaridine (8), glaucine (9),tetrahydropalmatrubine (10), xylopinoine (11), and norlaudanosine (12) were isolated.

Effects of two medicinal plants Psidium guajava L. (Myrtaceae) and Diospyros mespiliformis L. (Ebenaceae) leaf extracts on rat skeletal muscle cells in primary culture

Crude decoction, aqueous and ethanolic extracts of two medicinal plants （Psidiura guajava and Diospyros raespiliformis）, widely used in the central plateau of Burkina Faso to treat many diseases were evaluated for their antagonistic effects on caffeine induced calcium release from sarcoplasmic reticulum of rat skeletal muscle cells. These different extracts showed a decrease of caffeine induced calcium release in a dose dependent manner. Comparison of the results showed that Psidiura guajava leaf extracts are more active than extracts of Diospyros mespiliformis and that crude decoctions show better inhibitory activity. The observed results could explaine their use as antihypertensive and antidiarrhoeal agents in traditional medicine, by inhibiting intracellular calcium release.

Advance in Studies on Chemical Constituents, Pharmacology and Quality Control of Aquilaria sinensis

Aquilaria sinensis(Thymelaeaceae)is widely cultivated in southern China for its significant medicinal usage.The resinous wood,the most used part of the plant as traditional Chinese medicine(TCM),locally called“Chen Xiang(沉香)”or Chinese agarwood,has been traditionally used for the treatment of circulatory disorders,abdominal pain,vomiting,and dyspnea.Till date,over 249 compounds have been isolated and identified from this plant.A range of bioactivities,including α-glucosidase inhibitory effects,anti-inflammatory,cytotoxicity,neuroprotective,anti-neuroinflammatory,antimicrobial and acetylcholinesterase inhibitory effects,along with some of the pharmacological mechanisms have been reported for the pure compounds or extracts of Aquilaria sinensis.For the purpose of quality control and clinical safety of drug usage,modern analytical instruments and chemical analysis methods have been applied for analyses of Aquilaria sinensis.In order to comprehensively understand the medicinal application and to fully utilize the plant,a literature search on the herb based on databases including SciFinder,Web of Science,Pubmed,Google Scholar and others was performed and the information regarding to the phytochemistry investigations,pharmacological studies and quality control was summarized in this paper.

Chemical constituents of marine medicinal mangrove plant Sonneratia caseolaris

Twenty-four compounds including eight steroids （1-8）, nine triterpenoids （9-16, 24）, three flavonoids （20-22）, and four benzenecarboxylic derivatives （17-19, 23） were isolated and identified from stems and twigs of medicinal mangrove plant Sonneratia caseolaris. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by extensive analysis of their spectroscopic data. Among these rnetabolites, compounds 1, 4-20 and 22-24 were isolated and identified for the first time from S. caseolaris. In the in vitro cytotoxic assay against SMMC-7721 human hepatoma cells, compound 21 （3＇,4＇,5,7-tetrahydroxyflavone） exhibited significant activity with IC50 2.8 μg/mL, while oleanolic acid （14）, 3,3＇-di-O-methyl ether ellagic acid （18）, and 3,3＇,4-O-tri-O-methyl ether ellagic acid （19） showed weak activity. None of these compounds displayed significant antibacterial activites.

Plant Protection： The Risk Mitigation of Endocrine Disrupting Pesticides Use Demands the Shared Responsibility of All within the Agricultural System

The widespread use of agrochemicals and its possible negative impacts on humans and the environment remains a highly topical and controversial issue. Of particular concern here are chemicals that can disturb an organism＇s endocrine system. Referring to the precautionary principle, the objective of the research project start2 is to develop management strategies that help reduce possible risks for httmans and the environment of endocrine active agrochemicals. As an empirical basis we combined qualitative and quantitative methods and initiated two expert dialogues. Our findings underpin the well known fact that the use of agrochemicals is complex and dependent on more than the individual attitudes of farmers. Agricultural plant protection management is the collective product of a complex agricultural system, which encompasses treatment, marketing, industry and agricultural consultation as well as agricultural teaching institutions and relevant scientific disciplines. Successful management strategies for risk reduction in the context of hormonally active agrochemicals thus need to involve all actors within this system. The paper proposes a strategy that promotes participation by enabling learning processes among these actors.

Ethnobotany, Pharmacology and Chemistry of Medicinal Orchids from Veracruz

Orchidaceae is a large family of 1,260 species in Mexico, of which 433 grow in the state of Veracruz, Mexico. Although economically important in horticulture because of the beauty of their flowers, researches have done little work regarding their medicinal properties. This paper aimed to present the results of ethnobotanical, pharmacological and active compounds research on Veracruz medicinal orchids. The ethnobotanical information was obtained by consulting the Atlas of the Mexican Traditional Medicine Plants, Veracruz Medicinal Flora Database （CITRO-UV project） and through field work in the Nahuatl community of Cuautlajapa, Veracruz. To obtain pharmacological and active compounds information of registered species, a search was carded out through MEDLINE （USA National Library of Medicine Journal Citation database）. Twelve medicinal orchids were recorded for Veracruz, i.e., Epidendrum chlorocorymbos Schltr., Habenaria floribunda Lindl., Isochillus latibracteatus A. Rich. ＆ Galeotti, lsochillus major Schltdl. ＆ Cham., Mormodes maculata var. unicolor （Hook.） L. O. Williams, Oestlundia luteorosea （A. Rich. ＆ Galeotti） W. E. Higgins, Oncidium ascendens Lindl., Scaphyglottis fasciculata Hook., Sobralia macrantha Lindl., Spiranthes eriophora （Rob. ＆ Greenm.）, Stanhopea oculata （G. Lodd.） Lindl. and Vanilla planifolia Andrews. Only two species have been investigated in terms of their pharmacology and active compounds. Also, information for another five species closely related to already identified ones was obtained. Given the relative poverty of current information on the topic, this paper demonstrates the need to further study the ethnobotanical, pharmacological and chemical aspects of the region＇s medicinal orchids.

Behavioural Response of Anacanthotermes ochraceus towards Some Baits and Volatile Oils

Six types of termites＇ baits （cartoon, rough tissues, soft toilet tissues, acacia wood, saw dust of building wood and sackcloth） were elicited variable degree of attraction toward Anacanthotermes ochaceus, where the best one was cardboard, followed by soft and rough toilet tissue at mono-choice and multiple-choice tests. Chemical analysis showed that there were variations in the chemical constituents （lignin, cellulose, N, H and C） of the six baits studied. On the other hand, olfactory reactions of harvester termites toward eight volatile oils （four natural medical plants and four commercial terpines） were repellent, but the most repellent one was cineol and the least one was clove oil. The most tested oils were caused inhibition in feeding, except cedar wood. The most toxic oils were cineol followed by thymol.

Spring Wheat Disease and Yield Responses to Nitrogen Fertilization and Chemical Treatments

P. tritici-repentis, B. graminb and C. sativus are important diseases of spring wheat in Estonia. Field trials were carried out during 2006 and 2008 in JiSgeva PBI. Two kinds of treatments were used： Tl consisted of four different rates of basic fertilizer： NO = NOPOK0; N1 = N60P13K23, N2 = N 100P22K39; N3 = N140P31K54 kg ha^-1. T2 treatment consisted of same rates of basic fertilizers and in addition growth regulator, fungicides and leaf fertilizers. Seeds of the varieties ＂Monsun＂ and ＂Vinjett＂ were untreated. Results of the effects of fertilizers on the infections of fungal diseases on spring wheat monoculture revealed that test years had the biggest influence on infection intensity of B. graminis （REy = 50.7-59.2） in T1 and T2 and P. tritici-repentis in T2 （REy = 31.6）, whereas infection of C. sativus was more dependent on year in Tl （R2y = 37.3）. Yield correlated highly with a fertilizer rate and year. In the treatment T2, the yield depended more on weather conditions （REy = 40.7） and in T1, the yield was more dependent on fertilization rate （REF = 60.2）. We found TI to be more economic as the optimum N rate varied from N60 to N100 kg hat and the benefit in monetary terms raised from 297ε hal （＂Monsun＂ 2007） to 9056 hal （＂Vinjett＂ 2008）. In T2, N rate 60 kg ha^-1 raised the monetary benefit from 806 ha^-1 （＂Monsun＂ 2007） to 731ε ha^-1 （＂Vinjett＂ 2008）. The highest economic profit was gained by using low rates of fertilizer for ＂Monsun＂ and the highest rates of fertilizer for ＂Vinjett＂.

Relationship between Temperaments of Medicinal Plants and Their Major Chemical Compounds

Objective: To determine any relationship between temperaments of medicinal plants referred to traditional Iranian manuscripts and their major chemical compounds. Methods: Plants used in traditional Iranian medicine were categorized based on their major chemical compounds including alkaloids, phenolic compounds, and essential oils. Their temperaments were extracted from traditional herbal pharmacopeias of Iran. The possible relationship between major chemical compounds and temperaments of each group were evaluated. Results: Plants containing phenolic compounds as their major constituents are hot and dry temperaments except those contain tannins with cold and dry temperaments. Plants containing essential oils have hot and dry temperaments except those whose major essential oils with alcoholic structure which have cold and dry temperaments. Alkaloid-containing plants have cold and dry or hot and dry temperaments based on their alkaloidal structures. Conclusions: There is a close relationship between major chemical compounds of medicinal plants and their temperaments mentioned in traditional Iranian manuscripts.

Discrimination of the rare medicinal plant Dendrobium officinale based on naringenin, bibenzyl, and polysaccharides

The aim of this study was to establish a method for discriminating Dendrobium officinale from four of its close relatives Den- drobium chrysanthum, Dendrobium erystallinum, Dendrobium aphyllum and Dendrobium devonianum based on chemical composition analysis. We analyzed 62 samples of 24 Dendrobium species. High performance liquid chromatography analysis confirmed that the four low molecular weight compounds 4＇,5,7-trihydroxyflavanone （naringenin）, 3,4-dihydroxy-4＇,5-dime- tboxybibenzyl （DDB^2）, 3＇,4-dihydroxy-3,5＇-dimethoxybibenzyl （gigantol）, and 4,4＇-dihydroxy-3,3＇,5-trimethoxybibenzyl （moscatilin）, were common in the genus. The phenol-sulfuric acid method was used to quantify polysaccharides, and the mon- osaccharide composition of the polysaccharides was determined by gas chromatography. Stepwise discriminant analysis was used to differentiate among the five closely related species based on the chemical composition analysis. This proved to be a simple and accurate approach for discriminating among these species. The results also showed that the polysaccharide content, the amounts of the four low molecular weight compounds, and the mannose to glucose ratio, were important factors for species discriminaut. Therefore, we propose that a chemical analysis based on quantification of naringenin, bibenzyl, and polysaccha- rides is effective for identifying D. officinale.