Introduction: Recently, the recovery of waste products from plants as a source of biologically active compounds has increased interest. Therefore, the current research aims to evaluate the anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antimicrobial activities of the fixed oil of Cucumis melo L seeds, as well as to investigate its physicochemical parameters and chemical composition. Methods: Anti-inflammatory activity was examined using carrageenan-induced rat paw edema assay. The antimicrobial activity was assayed against Staphylococcus aureus, Micrococcus luteus, Enterococcus faecalis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida albicans by well diffusion method. The chemical composition of the oil was determined by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS), α-tocopherol was estimated by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results: Cucumis melo oil had no toxicity and possessed a promising anti-inflammatory activity. Moreover, the oil exhibited a reasonable decrease in the pro-inflammatory cytokines, including interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), and a significant increase in the anti-inflammatory cytokine (IL-10). The oil exhibited a reasonable antimicrobial activity against all tested organisms. The major identified compound in the unsaponifiable matter was (1-methyldodecyl) benzene (8.76%), while the major fatty acid was methyl linoleate (14.10%). The results of physicochemical characterization revealed the better quality of Cucumis melo oil. The amount of α-tocopherol in the oil was 23.5 μg/mL, which is considered a reasonable amount. Conclusion: These findings indicate that the fixed oil of Cucumis melo L seeds might be used as a safe natural anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory and antimicrobial agent.

This study aims to evaluate anti-obesity and antihyperlipidemic effects of individual and combined administration of ginger, cinnamon and green coffee on the hyperlipidimic rats. It is the first report dealing with the effects of the combined administration of these three plants as anti-obesity and antihyperlipidemic agents. Sprague-Dawley rats were used, where they divided into 6 groups (7 rats each). Group 1 was kept as a normal control, while the other groups fed on high-fat diet to induce obesity and hyperlipidemia for 4 weeks. Group 2 positive control that was kept obese, while other groups were orally given individual and combined powders of ginger, cinnamon and green coffee in doses 200mg/kg, respectively, for 6 weeks, At the end of the experiment, body weight of rats were recorded. Blood samples were collected for analyses. The results showed that each of individual and combined administration of these plants significantly (P<0.05) decreased the body weight and serum lipids including total lipid, triglyceride and low density lipoprotein when compared with positive control group, while they significantly (P<0.05) increased high density lipoprotein when compared with positive control group. Furthermore, our study showed that the combination of these three plants exhibited better effects than when compared to the individual powder of the plants. In this study we compared the effects of separated and combined administration of cinnamon bark, ginger root, green coffee beans as anti-obesity and antihyperlipidemic agents. The separated and combined administration exhibited significant anti-obesity and antihyperlipidemic effects in obese and hyperlipidemic rats, while the combined administration showed more powerful effects. Previous reports on cinnamon, ginger and green coffee as separately administered were thus confirmed; however, this is, to our knowledge, the first report dealing with the combined form of the three plants. Such combined administration might be useful in developing natural food additives to help address obesity and hyperlipidemia.

The volatile constituents from fresh aerial parts (leaves and flowers) of Zizyphus jujuba and fruits of Zizyphus spina-christi (Rhamnaceae) were analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The major oil constituents were found to be phytol (29.1 %), borneol (10.1 %) and hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (9.1 %) for Z. jujuba aerial parts. The fruit oil of Z. spina-christi was comprised mainly of fatty acids and their esters, of which dodecanoic acid (22.4 %) was the main component.