Essential oils of the fruits of three organically grown cultivars of Egyptian fennel (Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum, Foeniculum vulgare var. dulce and Foeniculum vulgare var. vulgare) were examined for their chemical constituents, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analysis of the essential oils revealed the presence of 18 major monoterpenoids in all three cultivars but their percentage in each oil were greatly different. trans-Anethole, estragole, fenchone and limonene were highly abundant in all of the examined oils. Antioxidant activities of the essential oils were evaluated using the DPPH radical scavenging, lipid peroxidation and metal chelating assays. Essential oils from the azoricum and dulce cultivars were more effective antioxidants than that from the vulgare cultivar. Antimicrobial activities of each oil were measured against two species of fungi, two species of Gram negative and two species of Gram positive bacteria. All three cultivars showed similar antimicrobial activity.

Plant-derived products have an imperative biological role against certain pathogenic organisms and were considered to be a major source of modern drugs. Rural people residing in developing countries are relying on traditional herbal medical system due to their strong believe and minimum access to allopathic medicines. Hence, ethnomedicinal knowledge is useful for the maintenance of community’s based approaches under this medical system. Present study was carried out in an unexplored remote tribal area of Pakistan to investigate and document the existing ethnomedicinal knowledge on local flora. Data was collected through semi-structured questionnaires from the community members and local herbalists. Use reports (URs) were counted for each species and analyzed through Linear Regression between the number of URs per family and number of plant species per family. A total of 64 medicinal plant species were recorded belonging to 60 genera and 41 families. Most frequently used plant families in ethnomedicines were Lamiaceae (8 species) and Asteraceae (7 species). Highest URs were recorded for Caralluma tuberculata N.E. Br. (49 URs) being followed by Thymus serphyllum L. (49 URs), Fagonia cretica L. (47 URs), Plantago lanceolata L. (45 URs), Periploca aphylla Decne. (44 URs), Citrullus colocynthis (L.) Schrad. (44 URs), and Sideroxylon mascatense (A.DC.) T.D.Penn. (44 URs). New ethnomedicinal uses were reported for Boerhaavia elongata Brandegee and Fumaria officinalis L. with confidential level of URs from the study area. Nineteen groups of health conditions were recorded during the course of study being treated with medicinal plants. Maximum number of 30 plant species was used to treat digestive problems. Most widely practiced mode of drugs’ preparation and administration was powder. Leaves (30% plants) were the most frequently used plant parts in the preparation of ethnomedicinal recipes. Current study is an important addition to the field of ethnomedicines. The study reports important medicinal plants from an area, which has not been investigated previously. Traditional knowledge is restricted to health practitioners and elder community members. This knowledge is at the verge of extinction because younger generation is not taking interest in its learning and preservation process. Hence, there is a dire need to phytochemically and pharmacologically test the investigated taxa for the validation of traditional knowledge.

Natural products are structurally and biologically interesting metabolites, but they have been isolated in minute amounts. The syntheses of such natural products help in obtaining them in bulk amounts. The recognition of microbial biotransformation as important manufacturing tool has increased in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. In recent years, microbial transformation is increasing significantly from limited interest into highly active area in green chemistry including preparation of pharmaceutical products. This is the first review published on the usage of microbial biocatalysts for some natural product classes and natural product drugs.

The antiviral and antioxidant activity of some fractions and of a series of flavonoids and proanthocyanidins obtained from Crataegus sinaica (Rosaceae) was evaluated. The O-glycosidic flavonoids and the oligomeric proanthocyanidins exhibited significant inhibitory activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which was shown to be due to an extracellular mechanism for procyanidin C-1. Procyanidin C-1 also had the highest antioxidant activity in both the microsomal lipid peroxidation and the hydroxyl radical scavenging assay. In addition to the previously reported phenolic compounds, the pentacyclic triterpenoid ursolic acid (1) and a tetrameric (2) and pentameric procyanidin (3) are reported for the first time.

Hypertension is one of the most important factors responsible for cardiovascular ailments worldwide. It has been observed that herbal products and alternative herbal therapies played a significant role in decreasing hypertension. The aim of the current study is to provide significant ethnopharmacological information, both qualitative and quantitative on medicinal plants related to hypertension from Northern Pakistan. The documented data were quantitatively analyzed for the first time in this area. A total of 250 participants were interviewed through semi-structured discussions and questionnaires. Quantitative indices including FC (Frequency citation), FIV (Family importance value), RFC (Relative frequency of citation) and DCI (Disease Consensus index) were calculated. A total of 192 plant species, belonging to 77 families were reported to be used in treatment of hypertension in Northern Pakistan. The most dominant life form reported was herbs (54%), with decoction (72 reports) and leaves (55.1%) were commonly utilized plant part. Highest FIV was recorded in Lamiaceae (327 FIV). RFC ranged from 0.08 to 1.08% while DCI varied from 0.233 to 0.000. In this study original data was compared with thirty one previous national and international published papers from neighboring region to compare the medicinal uses and obtain some novel plant species. About 42% of the medicinal plant species were reported for the first time in treatment of hypertension in comparison to these 31 published papers. Different phytochemical activities of antihypertensive plants were also reported from literature. This research work documents the traditional knowledge of medicinal plants usage and provides baseline in designing clinical trials and pharmacological analysis for treatment of hypertension.