MELIA AZEDARACH LINN.

                            MELIA AZEDARACH LINN.

  English name – Umbrella tree                   Nepali name –Bakena  Family – Meliaceae

DESCRIPTION:

It is cultivated as well as wild and found in the altitudes ranges 700-1100m.

MELIA is a tree which grows up to 20ml tall. The steam is covered with irregular plate or tough like barks of about 6mm in thickness. Leaves are pinnately compound, leaflets are broad, glabrous, ovate to elliptical, dentate and acuminate. Inflorescenes is an axillary panicle. Flowers fragrant, elongated, and purple in colour. Fruits  is drupe type. Seeds are blacks and elliptical.

PARTS USED:

Root bark or steam bark, heartwood, leaves, flowers, and fruits.

IMPORTANT BIOCHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS:

Alkaloids  azaridine  and paraisine.     

USED:

1. Barks of the roots and stem are used to treat ascariasis, ancylostomiasis, ringworm.

2. A poultice of the flowers is applied to eruptive skin diseases.

3 .Decoction of leaf is regarded as astringent and stomachic.

4. The aqueous extract of the heartwood is useful in asthma.

5. The leaf juice is given anthelmintic, antilithic given diuretic and emmenagogue.

                But the fruits are poisonous which causes vomiting and show the symptoms of paralysis when eaten.

OFLOXACIN

OFLOXACIN

  Ofloxacin  a  broad-spectrum most potent bactericidal drug. It is a latest drug of fluroquinolones.

Mechanism of action:

    It inhibits the bacterial DNA synthesis, by inhibiting DNA gyrase, which reverses the super coiling of DNA strands, the enzyme that maintains the helical twists in DNA . Thus it kills the bacteria by inhibiting the Synthesis.

INDICATION :

→     Typhoid and paratyphoid fever                                                             →     Urinary tract infection                                                          

→     Ear, nose and throat infection

→      Respiratory tract infection                                                   

 →     Skin and soft tissue infection

 →     It is also used in multi drug resistance tuberculosis

   PREPARATION:             

It usually available in tablet and suspension such as:

Ofloxacin tablet 100mg , 200mg and 400mg

Ofloxacin suspension 50mg/5ml and 100mg/5ml

 DOSE  :

Adult:200-400mg bid 5 to 10 days

ADVESE EFFECT:

CNS: somnolence, seizures, depression, sleep disorder

GIT:nausea, , dry mouth, abdominal pain, disguise, pseudomembranous colitis

Mis: anaphylaxis, chest pain, trunk pain, phlebitis.

CONTRAINDICATION:

Hypersensitivity to fluoroquinolones

ROSEMARY OIL

ROSEMARY OIL

(Rosmarinus officinalis)

Rosemary oil is volatile oil distilled from the flowering tops of leafy twigs of Rosmarinus officinalis (Labiatae). The plant is native to Southern Europe and the oil is produced principally in Spain and North Africa.

     The plant is a bushy evergreen shrub with rigid opposite sessile, linear and coriaceous leaves about 3.5 cm long and 2-4 mm broad with grey and woolly lower surface; typical labiates or light lilac flowers with purple spot and grouped in racemes inflorescences common in all the Mediterranean basin.

Chemical constituents

Rosemary oil mainly contains monoterpene hydrocarbons, e.g. α-pinene and camphene, 0.8-6% esters, mainly borneol and cineole and phenolic compounds represtented by flavonoids (glycosides of luteolin and methoxylated flavones) and phenolic acids (rose-marinic acid).

Cosmetic Uses

The oil is mainly used in perfumery industry, and is frequently used in aromatherapy. Rosemary extract is employed in cosmetology, because of its antioxidant activity it is used to facilitate the the tissue damage and and restoring the healthy status of the skin.

QUINCE SEEDS

QUINCE SEEDS

(Cydonia oblonga)

Quince seed is a ripe seed of Cydonia vulgaris person (Rosaceae), a tree cultivated in South Africa, central Europe and the Middle East. Iran supplies about 75% of the World production.

     The seeds are obtained from the apple or pear shaped fruits. They resemble apple pips (hard body seeds) and are frequently adhered together in masses.

    The seeds possess a mucilaginous epithelium, which is equivalent to approximately 20% of their weight.

Chemical constituents

The mucilage is composed of units of arabinose, xylose and uronic acid derivative, 15% of fixed oil and a small quantity of cyanogenetic glycosides and an enzyme which effects the hydrolysis.

Cosmetic Uses

The hydrocolloid forms viscous solutions with thixotropic properties, and is used as a demulcent, as a good emulsifying agent and in the preparation of hair-fixing lotions.

BURDOCK

                                                     BURDOCK

                                            (Arctium lappa Linn.)

Synonyms : Arctium majus Bernh

Burdock is the dried first year root collection from Arctium lappa Linn. Hardy, (Compositae/Asteraceae).

      Arctium lappa Linn. is hardy, biennial or perennial herb up to 3 m high, is very common in vacant lots and on trail edges almost all over Europe, having large cordate leaves, capitulum of purple tubular flowers surrounded by green bracts ending in hooks.

Chemicals constituents:

Roots contain insulin (up to 50%) rich in polyunsaturated compounds, polyalkynes, volatile acids and non-hydroxy acid (lauric, myristic, stearic and ployphenolic acids (2-3%) (e.g. caffeic and chlorogenic).

  Leaves have been reported to contain arctiol, fukinone, β-eudesmol and taraxasterol.

    The dried roots of the plant are official in French pharmacopoeia and are used for the treatment of dermatosis and furuncuosis. In phytotherapy, it is recommended for the treatment of acne, and pilo-sebaceous infections and psoriasis.

      The leaves are used locally as an emollient and itch-relieving adjunctive therapy for dermatitis and as topical protective agent for cracks, abrasions, scratches and insect bites.

  Commercial preparation

Crude and extracts of leaves and roots.

Cosmetic Uses

This plant (roots and leaves) is used in herbal cosmetics due to the presence of polyunsaturated compounds, (Insulin) polyalkenes and polyamines; whose in vitro antimicrobial and antifungal properties have been demonstrated. Also used in toiletry preparations for its skin cleansing and hair tonic (stimulate hair growth) properties and used in chronic skin conditions such as psoriasis.

        Traditionally, the plant roots are used orally for the treatment of moderate acne and to improve renal and digestive elimination functions.

Commercial preparation

Crude form as well as extracts of leaves and roots. 

ANNATO TREE

ANNATO TREE

(Bixa orelana Linn.)

Annanto tree (Bixa orellana Linn. Family Bixa-ceae) grows wildly in the trophical area of America and is cultivated in trophical area of India, eastern Africa and also widely cultivated in Brazil and Peru. Its fruit contain 15-20 seeds embedded in a gooey bright red pulp.

Chemical Constituents:

The main constituent present in the fruit is 9’-cis-bixin, which is lipid-soluble methyl ester of a C-24 dicarboxylic acid 9’-cis-norbixin; cis-bixin occurs along with small quantities of trans bixin and cis-norbixins.

Health Food:

The crude product is used to prepare oily extracts, water-soluble extracts or sprays containing 0.2-0.3% bixin, which are used for coloring the food products. Major food categories in which annatto colour is used include alcoholic and non alcoholic beverages, frozen dairy desserts, baked goods, meat and meat products, condiments, fats and oils ( salad oil, popcorn oil, margarine and sausages).

ANISEED

ANISEED

(Pimpinella anisum Linn)

Anise or Aniseed is the dried, ripe fruit of Pimpinella anisum Linn. (Apiaceae/Umbelliferae)

Pimpinella is Latin word meaning two wings.

The plant is an annual herb indigenous to Asia Minor, Egypt, Greece and also cultivated in South America, Germany, Italy and Southern Russia. Anise grows wild in the near east and widely cultivated, along other places on the Mediterranean rim (Spain, Turkey, North Africa and Asia).

Chemical Constituents:

The aniseed fruit contains polysaccharides, lipids (15-20%), flavonoids, a glucoside of p-hydroxy benzoic acid and 2-3% of essential oil. The latter contains 80-90%  anethole, estragol and anisaldehude. Other derivatives (anisic acid, anisyl alcohol and ketone) may be found in partially oxidized essential oils.

Health Food:

Aniseed is reputed to be estrogenic, considered to be galactogogue, expectorant and carminative, traditionally used for symptomatic treatment of gastrointestinal disturbance.

The fruits are used as spice in the health food products, because of their carminative properties.