Kaempferia parviflora (Black ginger) is used widely in medical fields as an anti-microorganism and anti-inflammation. In this study, the aim was to evaluate the in vitro and in vivo anti-acne efficacy of black ginger extract. The results indicate that the methanol and ethanol extracts showed the highest total phenolic contents, without a significant difference, whereas the n-hexane extract showed the highest total flavonoid content. Nine flavones were detected using UPLC−QTOF−MS, and the ethyl acetate extract showed the highest amount of 5,7-dimethoxyflavone (DMF) according to HPLC. Antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, S. epidermidis, and Cutibacterium acnes was observed. All the extracts showed antimicrobial activity against C. acnes, revealing MICs in the range of 0.015 to 0.030 mg/mL, whereas the ethyl acetate extract inhibited the growth of S. epidermidis with a MIC of 3.84 mg/mL. In addition, the ethyl acetate extract showed the highest activity regarding nitric oxide inhibition (IC50 = 12.59 ± 0.35 µg/mL). The ethyl acetate extract was shown to be safe regarding cell viability at 0.1 mg/mL. The anti-acne efficacy was evaluated on volunteers. The volunteers were treated in two groups: one administered a 0.02% ethyl acetate extract gel-cream (n = 9) and one administered a placebo (n = 9) for 6 weeks. The group treated with the gel-cream containing the extract showed 36.52 and 52.20% decreases in acne severity index (ASI) after 4 and 6 weeks, respectively, and 18.19 and 18.54% decreases in erythema, respectively. The results suggest that K. parviflora could be a potent active ingredient in anti-inflammatory and anti-acne products.

Background: Lawsonia inermis L. has been used as a traditional or folk medicine for the treatment of a wide range of skin infectious diseases. Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the pharmacognostic specifications and lawsone contents of L. inermis leaves. Materials and Methods: The pharmacognostic specifications of L. inermis leaves from 12 sources were evaluated according to the WHO guideline of quality control method for medicinal plant materials. The lawsone contents were analyzed by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) coupled with densitometry and image analysis. Results: Microscopic evaluation of L. inermis powders showed the fragment of mesophyll, fragment of parenchyma, epidermis layer with stomata, and the rosette crystal of calcium oxalate. Physicochemical parameters revealed that total ash, acid-insoluble ash, loss on drying, and water content should be not <6.98, 1.12, 8.08, and 9.86% of dried weight, respectively, whereas ethanol and water extractive values should be not < 19.67 and 23.06% of dried weight, respectively. The content of lawsone in L. inermis leaves by TLC-densitometry was found to be 0.76 ± 0.05 g/100 g of dried crude drug, whereas the lawsone content evaluation by TLC image analysis was found to be 0.87 ± 0.11 g/100 g of dried crude drug. The validation of the methods revealed that both TLC-densitometry and TLC image analysis showed a good sensitivity and accuracy for lawsone quantitation in L. inermis. Conclusion: The pharmacognostic specifications could be used as the standardization data of L. inermis leaves, and the development of TLC method could be applied to determine lawsone content in this plant material.

Chemical investigation of the mycelia of the pathogenic fungus Curvularia sp. which was isolated from a leaf of Dactyloctenium aegyptium (crowfoot grass), resulted in the isolation of a new compound, curvulariahawadride (5), along with five known compounds (1–4, and 6). Their structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data, including 1D and 2D NMR and HRESIMS. The absolute configuration of 5 was established from experimental and calculated electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Compounds 1, 3, and 5 showed nitric oxide (NO) production inhibitory activity with IC₅₀ values of 53.7, 32.8, and 12.8 µM, respectively. Compounds 2 and 4 showed significant cytotoxicity against lung cancer A549, colorectal cancer SW480, and leukemic K562 cells with an IC₅₀ ranging value of 11.73 to 17.59 µM.

The oudemansielloid/xeruloid taxa Hymenopellis, Mucidula, Oudemansiella, and Xerula are genera of Basidiomycota that constitute an important resource of bioactive compounds. Numerous studies have shown antimicrobial, anti-oxidative, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory and other bioactivities of their extracts. The bioactive principles can be divided into two major groups: (a) hydrophilic polysaccharides with relatively high molecular weights and (b) low molecular medium polar secondary metabolites, such as the antifungal strobilurins. In this review, we summarize the state of the art on biodiversity, cultivation of the fungi and bioactivities of their secondary metabolites and discuss future applications. Although the strobilurins are well-documented, with commercial applications as agrochemical fungicides, there are also other known compounds from this group that have not yet been well-studied. Polysaccharides, dihydro-citrinone phenol A acid, scalusamides, and acetylenic lactones such as xerulin, also have potential applications in the nutraceutical, pharmaceutical and medicinal market and should be further explored. Further studies are recommended to isolate high quality bioactive compounds and fully understand their modes of action. Given that only few species of oudemansielloid/xeruloid mushrooms have been explored for their production of secondary metabolites, these taxa represent unexplored sources of potentially useful and novel bioactive metabolites.

Zanthoxylum limonella (Dennst.) Alston. (Rutaceae) or Ma-khwaen is one of the medicinal plants in Thai traditional medicine. To investigate the pharmacognostic specifications and chemical constituents of Z. limonella fruits and seeds. Fruits and seeds of Z. limonella were collected from 15 sources throughout Thailand; then examined the pharmacognostic specification following WHO guideline of quality control method for medicinal plant materials. Microscopic determination of Z. limonella powders demonstrated fragment of mesocarp, fragment of brown vitta, oil glands, fragment of endocarp, and endosperm containing oil globule, trichome and pale brown stone cells. Stomatal index and pellucid dots in mm ² were 19.87 and 4.2 respectively. Physico-chemical parameters unveiled that loss on drying, water content, total ash, and acid-insoluble ash should be not >17.90%, 9.18%, 4.50%, and 0.60% of dried weight respectively; while ethanol, water, and hexane extractive values and volatile oil content should be not <2.24%, 2.27%, 1.57% and 9.63% of dried weight respectively. R _f values of thin-layer chromatographic fingerprint of Z. limonella fruits and seeds ethanolic extract were 0.38, 0.45, 0.90, and 0.97 detected ultraviolet (UV) light 254 nm, 0.30, 0.44, 0.67, and 0.77 detected UV light 366 nm, and 0.24, 0.73, 0.78, and 0.93 detected 10% sulfuric acid. There are three main chemical compounds in Z. limonella oil including limonene (43.63%), (+)-sabinene (16.72%), and terpinen-4-ol (10.95%). The result gained from pharmacognostic specifications and chemical fingerprints could be used as standardization data of Z. limonella fruits and seeds to apply or provide for guarantee of quality.