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BackgroundMedicinal plants are used to treat various disorders, including diabetes, globally in a range of formulations. While attention has mainly been on the aerial plant parts, there are only a few review studies to date that are focused on the natural constituents present in the plant roots with health benefits. Thus, the present study was performed to review in vivo studies investigating the antidiabetic potential of the natural compounds in plant roots.MethodsWe sorted relevant data in 2001–2019 from scientific databases and search engines, including Web of Knowledge, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Medline, Reaxys, and Google Scholar. The class of phytochemicals, plant families, major compounds, active constituents, effective dosages, type of extracts, time of experiments, and type of diabetic induction were described.ResultsIn our literature review, we found 104 plants with determined antidiabetic activity in their root extracts. The biosynthesis pathways and mechanism of actions of the most frequent class of compounds were also proposed. The results of this review indicated that flavonoids, phenolic compounds, alkaloids, and phytosteroids are the most abundant natural compounds in plant roots with antidiabetic activity. Phytochemicals in plant roots possess different mechanisms of action to control diabetes, including inhibition ofα-amylase andα-glucosidase enzymes, oxidative stress reduction, secretion of insulin, improvement of diabetic retinopathy/nephropathy, slow the starch digestion, and contribution against hyperglycemia.ConclusionThis review concludes that plant roots are a promising source of bioactive compounds which can be explored to develop against diabetes and diabetes-related complications.Graphical abstract

Background & Aim:The genus Salvia (commonly known as sage) is a broad genus belonging to the family Lamiaceae. This study is aimed at assessing the essential oil composition and antimicrobial activities of two Salvia species. Experimental: The chemical composition of the essential oils of Salvia officinalis L. and Salvia virgata Jacq, cultivated in Estahban (Fars, South Iran), was studied by means of GC-MSanalyses. Antimicrobial activity was tested against a panel of microorganisms including one Gram-positive (Staphylococcus epidermidis PTCC NO. 1435) and one Gram-negative (Escherichia coli) and three fungal strain (Alternaria alternata PTCC NO. 5224, Penicillium funiculosum PTCC NO. 5301 and P. funiculosum PTCC NO. 5169) using the disk diffusion and agar-well diffusion methods and the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) technique. Results: In all, 57 compounds were identified, 42 for S. officinalis, accounting for 98.94% ofthe total oil, 29 for S. virgata (98.81%). The major components of S. officinalis essential oil were α-thujone (37.18%), 1,8-cineole (12.71%), β-thujone (9.10%) and the major components of S. virgata essential oil were caryophyllene oxide (30.23%), β-caryophyllene (22.63%), sabinene (11.82%). The antimicrobial activity of the total essential oil evaluated by the agar-well diffusion method, the results showed that the highest active against S. epidermidis and also the least active against E. coli. Inhibition of growth was tested by the disk diffusion method, the results showed that essential oil of S. officinalis and S. virgata were highest active against E. coli and P. funiculosum (PTCC NO. 5301), respectively. Also the least active against A. alternata. Recommended applications/industries: The results showed thatS. officinalis oil had higher antimicrobial activity compare to S. virgata

The commercial production of essential oil in Mentha actually depends on the nutrient, fertilization and climatic conditions. Mentha canadensis is one of the Mentha species that produces menthol more than other species. In this study, the effects of organic and nitrogen (N) fertilizer to determine phytochemical, morphological and yield responses of this species were investigated. Experiments were carried out in 3 levels of N and combinations of these applied during the growing season of 2015. The result of this study showed that organic and N fertilizers had significantly effects on growth parameters and essential oil yield and content of menthol, menthone and menthofuran. The minimum percentage of menthol was 38.2 in the control and the maximum percentage of menthol was 41.6 in 15: 400 (organic: nitrogen) combination fertilizers. This increase in essential oil yield might be due to either an increase in vegetative growth or changes in monoterpenes biosynthesis.

Peptic Ulcer Disease (PUD) is the most common disorder of the stomach and duodenum, which is associated with Helicobacter pylori infection. PUD occurs due to an imbalance between offensive and defensive factors and Proton Pump Inhibitors (PPI), Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) and antibiotics are frequently used for the treatment. Recently, medicinal plants have emerged as efficacious, safe and widely available alternative therapies for PUD. The aim of this review was to study the medicinal plants and phytochemicals, which have been used for PUD treatment to evaluate the potential role of natural compounds to develop herbal remedies for PUD. Information was obtained using a literature search of electronic databases, such as Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, Sci Finder, Reaxys and Cochrane. Common and scientific names of the plants and keywords such as ‘peptic ulcer’, ‘gastric ulcer’, ‘stomach ulcer’ and ‘duodenal ulcer’ were used for search. Eventually, 279 plants from 89 families were identified and information on the plant families, part of the plant used, chemical constituents, extracts, ulcer model used and dosage were abstracted. The results indicated that most of the anti-PUD plants were from Asteraceae (7.1%) and Fabaceae (6.8%) families while flavonoids (49%), tannins (13%), saponins (10%) and alkaloids (9%) were the most common natural compounds in plants with anti-PUD activity.

Correlation analysis showed the significant relation of seed and protein yield with all the traits except correlation of grain filling duration and peduncle length with seed yield as well as spike yield and peduncle length with protein yield. Factor analysis indicated that four important factors accounted for about 94.31% of the total variation among traits studied. The first factor assigned 34.99% of total variation between traits and was significantly related with traits seed yield, biological yield, protein yield and protein percentage. This factor was regarded as quantitative and qualitative yield improvement factor. Other factors accounted for 43.70, 27.90 and 22.40% of variation between traits so were entitled as spike yield, grain filling ability and photosynthesis reservoir enhancement factors, respectively. Overall, results revealed effect of grain filling rate, biological yield, number of seeds/spike, spike yield and protein percentage on seed and protein yield. Hence, these traits are recommended as indirect selection criteria for genetic improvement of seed yield especially in early generations.

Denaian thyme is scientifically named as Thymus daenensis Celak., which belongs to Lamiaceae family. The Mediterranean region can be described as the center of the genus. Thyme is one of most important medicinal plants that was used in pharmaceutical, food, cosmetics and hygienic industries in most of developed countries. Thymus species have strong antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, antiparasitic, spasmolytic and antioxidant activities. Breeding programmes need to identify the best land races as base population. Existence sufficient genetic diversity also is important in selection the superior individual amongst. In the present study, the dried aerial parts of plant analyzed by using GC/MS. The nineteen compounds were identified in dried aerial parts. The major components were γ-Terpinene (42.35%), Thymol (14.18%), α-Thujene (10.74%), linalool (5.42%), Borneol (2.48%), α-Terpine (1.54%) and Carvacrol (1.07%). This land race was collected from Isfahan province having high amount of γ-Terpinene and Thymol so is promising population for breeding programmes via selection to improve medicinal value of this important medicinal plant.