Echinacea purpurea (Asteraceae) is a perennial medicinal herb with important immunostimulatory and anti-inflammatory properties, especially the alleviation of cold symptoms. The plant also attracted scientists' attention to assess other aspects of its beneficial effects. For instance, antianxiety, antidepression, cytotoxicity, and antimutagenicity as induced by the plant have been revealed in various studies. The findings of the clinical trials are controversial in terms of side effects. While some studies revealed the beneficial effects of the plant on the patients and no severe adverse effects, some others have reported serious side effects including abdominal pain, angioedema, dyspnea, nausea, pruritus, rash, erythema, and urticaria. Other biological activities of the plant such as antioxidant, antibacterial, antiviral, and larvicidal activities have been reported in previous experimental studies. Different classes of secondary metabolites of the plant such as alkamides, caffeic acid derivatives, polysaccharides, and glycoproteins are believed to be biologically and pharmacologically active. Actually, concurrent determination and single analysis of cichoric acid and alkamides have been successfully developed mainly by using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with different detectors including UV spectrophotometric, coulometric electrochemical, and electrospray ionization mass spectrometric detectors. The results of the studies which were controversial revealed that in spite of major experiments successfully accomplished using E. purpurea, many questions remain unanswered and future investigations may aim for complete recognition of the plant's mechanism of action using new, complementary methods.

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Ficus racemosa is an important medicinal plant, found in India, Australia, and Southeast Asia. It is popularly known as 'gular.' It reduces blood glucose concentration due to the presence of β-sitosterol. Many active constituents that have been isolated from various parts of this plant possess useful pharmacological activities. The literature survey proposed that it has multiple pharmacological actions that include antidiabetic, antioxidant, antidiarrhoeal, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, antifungal, antibacterial, hypolipidemic, antifilarial, and hepatoprotection. This review article elaborately describes the traditional uses, phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of this plant. We also provide useful structures of the secondary metabolites along with their nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data. Some clinical trial data have also been provided in this review. This review would assist researchers to gather scientific information in future.

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Sweetgum trees are large, deciduous trees found in Asia and North America. Sweetgum trees are important resources for medicinal and other beneficial compounds. Many of the medicinal properties of sweetgum are derived from the resinous sap that exudes when the outer bark of the tree has been damaged. The sap, known as storax, has been used for centuries to treat common ailments such as skin problems, coughs, and ulcers. More recently, storax has proven to be a strong antimicrobial agent even against multidrug resistant bacteria such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. In addition to the sap, the leaves, bark, and seeds of sweetgum also possess beneficial compounds such as shikimic acid, a precursor to the production of oseltamivir phosphate, the active ingredient in Tamiflu®-an antiviral drug effective against several influenza viruses. Other extracts derived from sweetgum trees have shown potential as antioxidants, anti-inflammatory agents, and chemopreventive agents. The compounds found in the extracts derived from sweetgum sap suppress hypertension in mice. Extracts from sweetgum seeds have anticonvulsant effects, which may make them suitable in the treatment of epilepsy. In addition to the potential medicinal uses of sweetgum extracts, the extracts of the sap possess antifungal activity against various phytopathogenic fungi and have been effective treatments for reducing nematodes and the yellow mosquito, Aedes aegypti, populations thus highlighting the potential of these extracts as environment-friendly pesticides and antifungal agents. The list of value-added products derived from sweetgum trees can be increased by continued research of this abundantly occurring tree.

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Alpinia calcarata Roscoe (Family: Zingiberaceae), is a rhizomatous perennial herb, which is commonly used in the traditional medicinal systems in Sri Lanka. Alpinia calcarata is cultivated in tropical countries, including Sri Lanka, India, and Malaysia. Experimentally, rhizomes of Alpinia calcarata are shown to possess antibacterial, antifungal, anthelmintic, antinociceptive, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, aphrodisiac, gastroprotective, and antidiabetic activities. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of polyphenols, tannins, flavonoids, steroid glycosides and alkaloids in the extract and essential oil of this plant. Essential oil and extracts from this plant have been found to possess wide range of pharmacological and biological activities. This article provides a comprehensive review of its ethnomedical uses, chemical constituents and the pharmacological profile as a medicinal plant. Particular attention has been given to the pharmacological effects of the essential oil of Alpinia calcarata in this review so that the potential use of this plant either in pharmaceutics or as an agricultural resource can be evaluated.

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Cucurbitacins which are structurally diverse triterpenes found in the members of Cucurbitaceae and several other plant families possess immense pharmacological potential. This diverse group of compounds may prove to be important lead molecules for future research. Research focused on these unattended medicinal leads from the nature can prove to be of immense significance in generating scientifically validated data with regard to their efficacy and possible role in various diseases. This review is aimed to provide an insight into the chemical nature and medicinal potential of these compounds exploring their proposed mode of action, probable molecular targets and to have an outlook on future directions of their use as medicinal agents.

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Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum Linn.) is an important perennial grass of Poaceae family, indigenous to tropical South Asia and Southeast Asia. It is cultivated worldwide due to the economical and medicinal value of its high yielding products. Sugarcane juice is well known as a raw material for the production of refined sugar and its wax is considered as a potential substitute for the expensive carnauba wax, which is of cosmetic and pharmaceutical interest. Refined sugar is the primary product of sugarcane juice, but during its processing, various other valuable products are also obtained in an unrefined form, such as, brown sugar, molasses, and jaggery. Sugarcane juice is widely used in India in the treatment of jaundice, hemorrhage, dysuria, anuria, and other urinary diseases. Herein, we have summarized the different phytoconstituents and health benefits of sugarcane and its valuable products. The phytochemistry of sugarcane wax (obtained from the leaves and stalks of sugarcane), leaves, juice, and its products has revealed the presence of various fatty acid, alcohol, phytosterols, higher terpenoids, flavonoids, -O- and -C-glycosides, and phenolic acids. The future prospective of some of the sugarcane products has been discussed, which needs a phytopharmacological study and has a great potential to be a valuable medicinal product.

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Catharanthus roseus produces a wide range of terpenoid indole alkaloids (TIA). Many of them, such as vinblastine and vincristine, have significant bioactivity. They are valuable chemotherapy drugs used in combination with other drugs to treat lymphoma and leukemia. The TIA biosynthetic pathway has been investigated for many years, for scientific interest and for their potential in manufacturing applications, to fulfill the market demand. In this review, the progress and perspective of C. roseus TIA biosynthesis and its regulating enzymes are described. In addition, the culture condition, hormones, signaling molecules, precursor feeding on the accumulation of TIA, and gene expression are also evaluated and discussed.

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Infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus strains with Methicillin resistance are associated with increased mortality and morbidity, aggressive course, multiple drug resistance and hospital outbreaks. Several first and second line antibiotics are rapidly becoming ineffective for treatment due to emergence of resistance. Extracts of medicinal plants are rich source of unique phytochemicals. Plants used in traditional medicine have been reported to have significant anti-MRSA activity. The objective of this review is to provide a brief overview of antibiotics as well as anti-MRSA natural products and their future prospect.

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Azadirachta indica commonly known as Neem, is an evergreen tree. Since time immemorial it has been used by Indian people for treatment of various diseases due to its medicinal properties. It possesses anti-bacterial, anti-cariogenic, anti-helminthic, anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, astringent, anti-viral, cytotoxic, and anti-inflammatory activity. Nimbidin, Azadirachtin and nimbinin are active compounds present in Neem which are responsible for antibacterial activity. Neem bark is used as an active ingredient in a number of toothpastes and toothpowders. Neem bark has anti-bacterial properties, it is quite useful in dentistry for curing gingival problems and maintaining oral health in a natural way. Neem twigs are used as oral deodorant, toothache reliever and for cleaning of teeth. The objective of this article is to focus on the various aspects of Azadirachta indica in dentistry in order to provide a tool for future research.

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Hepcidin is a novel peptide hormone of hepatic origin. It has a crucial role in iron metabolism. The causative association of this peptide in anemia and iron overloading states has been well established. Current research has expanded the diagnostic implications of hepcidin in other medical conditions. Increased serum hepcidin has been reported in neoplastic diseases, inflammation, and sepsis. However, the clinical use of hepcidin as a biomarker is limited owing to nonavailability of an appropriate diagnostic test. Assays for serum and urine hepcidin estimation have been developed recently, which are likely to facilitate the use of hepcidin in research as well as in patient care in the near future.

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Indian soil germinates thousands of medicinal drugs that are cultivated with a purpose to obtain a novel drug. As it is a well-established fact that the structural analogs with greater pharmacological activity and fewer side-effects may be generated by the molecular modification of the functional groups of such lead compounds. This review throws light on two natural triterpenes - Taraxerol and Taraxasterol which have many important pharmacological actions including anti-cancer activity, their chemistry, biosynthesis aspects, and possible use of these compounds as drugs in treatment of cancer. A silent crisis persists in cancer treatment in developing countries, and it is intensifying every year. Although at least 50-60% of cancer victims can benefit from radiotherapy that destroys cancerous tumors, but search for the paramount therapy which will prove to be inexpensive with minimal side effects still persists. Various treatment modalities have been prescribed, along with conventional and non-conventional medicine but due to their adverse effects and dissatisfaction among users, these treatments are not satisfactory enough to give relief to patients. Hence, this review sparks the occurrence of Taraxerol (VI) and Taraxasterol (VII) in nature, so that the natural godowns may be harvested to obtain these potent compounds for novel drug development as well as discusses limitations of these lead compounds progressing clinical trials.

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Sarcochlamys pulcherrima (Roxb.) Gaud. is widely used as traditional medicine and food by different tribes and communities of Assam in India and in neighboring countries. Recent studies conducted in our laboratory showed the broad-spectrum antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of its crude extract and different solvent fractions and detected the presence of phenolics, flavonoids, saponin, and acidic compounds. This review gives a bird's eye view of the traditional uses of S. pulcherrima as food and medicine based on the information gathered by personal interaction with the people of different places of Assam as well as the investigations made on its ethno-botanical claims, biological activities, and other aspects by various workers since years till date and highlight the prospects of future research.

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