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Alocasia macrorrhiza and Cyrtosperma merkusii are root crops in the family Araceae that have the potential to be grown as fodder plants in Hawai'i. This research focused on growing C. merkusii and two varieties (Laufola and Faitama) of A. macrorrhiza to evaluate their growth and yield. A randomized complete block design was used to set up two growth trials in 2018 and 2019. Varieties were grown in pots in the first trial and directly on the ground in the second trial. Plant growth was measured weekly by the plant height and leaf area of the main plants. The weights of the leaf blades, petioles, and stems were taken as the yield. Lateral plants and their weights were also measured. The yield data at harvest were statistically analyzed with a one-way ANOVA in PROC GLM, and means were separated using a Post-hoc test, Least Significant Difference, at 5%. The influence of plant height, leaf area, number of leaves produced by main plants, number of lateral plants, and their total weight on yield were analyzed by Pearson's correlation coefficient. The growth and yield of plants in the second trial were generally superior to those in the first trial, in which the Laufola variety had the highest growth increase in height and leaf area, followed by Faitama. Those varieties of A. macrorrhiza also had the highest yields. The Laufola variety had the greatest average yield, in kg/ha estimates of the stem (54,896 kg/ha), petiole (99,647 kg/ha), and leaf blades (25,563 kg/ha). Plant height, leaf area, and the number of leaves produced by the main plants had a strong positive influence on the yields. Laufola and Faitama varieties have better potential to be grown in Hilo, Hawai'i. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alocasia macrorrhizos (L.) G. Don, Araceae, is a traditionally edible plant known as giant taro. This work aimed to prepare sulphated polysaccharide extract of A. macrorrhizos tubers (SAM) and to investigate its tumor anti-initiation and anti-promotion activities. Methods: Enzymatic, colorimetric, fluorometric, and cell-based assays were used throughout the study. Tumor anti-initiation activity was investigated by estimation of SAM effect on cytochrome P450 1A1 (Cyp1A1) glutathione-S-transferases (GST), glutathione (GSH), epoxide hydrolase (mEH), and quinone reductase (QR), while Tumor anti-promotion activity was investigated by macrophage proliferation, nitric oxide (NO), and LPS binding to macrophages. SAM inhibited the carcinogen metabolizing enzyme Cyp1A1 and it induced, to variable extent, the detoxification enzymes (GST, mEH and QR), especially mEH. Additionally, SAM showed anti-inflammatory property by inhibiting NO and it induced the affinity of macrophage to bind pathogens and neoplastic cells. Additionally, SAM was cytotoxic to colon HCT-116 cells. The findings suggested SAM as a promising inhibitor of the carcinogenesis initiation phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rhizome of giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhiza (L.) Schott), which is a highly adaptable wild plant, is a traditional Chinese herbal medicine. In the current study, the antiproliferative constituents of giant taro were investigated and six new (1 − 6) and four known piperidine alkaloids (7 − 10) were isolated from its rhizomes. Their chemical structures and absolute configurations were elucidated using various spectroscopic methods and the Mosher ester method. The isolated alkaloids were screened for the antiproliferative activity through MTT assay. The results indicated that piperidine alkaloids exerted potential antiproliferative activity against HepG2, AGS and MCF-7 tumor cells. Further researches showed that compounds 3 − 5 dose-dependently decreased the colony formation rate and induced the apoptosis of AGS cells, while compound 4 induced AGS cell death via the proapoptotic pathway. This study demonstrates that the piperidine alkaloids isolated from giant taro exhibit significant antitumor activity, which provides phytochemical evidence for further development and utilization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Seventeen piperidine alkaloids, including 15 previously undescribed 2-substituted-6-(9-phenylnonyl)-piperidine-3,4-diol alkaloids and a previously undescribed 2-substituted-6-(9-phenylnonyl)-piperidine-3-ol alkaloid, were isolated from the leaves of Alocasia macrorrhiza (L.) Schott. Their planar structures and configurations were elucidated based on HR-ESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR, Snatzke's method, modified Mosher method, single-crystal X-ray crystallography, as well as quantum chemical calculation. It was found that Δ δ H5b - H5a can be used to elucidate the relative configuration of 2,3,4,6-tetrasubstituted piperidine, by analyzing the NMR data of 2-substituted-6-(9-phenylnonyl)-piperidine-3,4-diol. Antiproliferative activity was evaluated for all of the alkaloids, and compounds 6 – 8 showed considerable inhibitory activity against K562 cell line, with the IC 50 values of 17.24 ± 1.62, 19.31 ± 0.9 and 18.77 ± 1.09μM, respectively. Furthermore, compounds 6 and 7 exerted an antiproliferative effect by inducing apoptosis. • Bioactive phytochemicals of the leaves of Alocasia macrorrhiza were studied. • Sixteen new piperidine alkaloids were isolated and identified. • Piperidine alkaloids have exhibited potential antiproliferative activity. • The relative configuration of piperidine can be elucidated by calculating Δ δ H5b-H5a. • Alocasia macrorrhiza may be beneficial to cancer related diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanomaterials were used in enhanced oil recovery methods to improve the surface activity at the solid/oil/liquid contact line and remove oil through disjoining pressure gradient mechanism. The main objective of study is to prepare a green nanocomposites (NCs) and identify its effect on the interfacial tension (IFT) reduction and wettability alteration. A simple, economical and green technique was applied to synthesize Fe3O4@SiO2@xanthan NCs from the Alocasia macrorrhiza plant extract. The prepared NCs were identified employing X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The fabricated NCs at different concentrations (250 to 1500 ppm) were dispersed in distilled water to prepare the nanofluid solutions which were characterized by analyzing their viscosity, pH and conductivity properties. Additionally, the effect of the prepared nanofluids on the IFT reduction and wettability alteration of the crude-oil/aqueous-phase/rock system was examined. Obtained experimental results demonstrated a significant decrease in the values of IFT and contact angle under the effect of the synthesized NCs, which were reduced from 28.3 mN/m and 134° to 4.35 mN/m and 28°, respectively. Thus, the wettability of the used carbonate rock was greatly altered from a strong oil-wet to a strong water-wet system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Giant taro (Alocasia macrorrhiza (L.) Schott) , is a perennial ornamental plant. In this study, nine new (1 - 9) and six known (10 - 15) piperidine alkaloids were obtained from the rhizomes of A. macrorrhiza. The chemical structures and absolute configurations were established utilizing a variety of spectroscopic techniques, Mosher, Snatzke method and single-crystal X-ray crystallography. The isolates were evaluated for their antiproliferative activity on SGC-7901, MDA-MB-231, HepG2, K562, CNE2, SPC-A-1, HeLa, A-375 and Hacat cells. The results revealed that piperidine alkaloids exhibited significant antiproliferative activity against these tumor cells, with a particularly pronounced effect on K562 cells. [Display omitted] • Fifteen pyridine alkaloids have been isolated from Alocasia macrorrhiza , including nine new compounds. • Antiproliferative activities of the isolated alkaloids were investigated. • Most pyridine alkaloids exhibited potent antiproliferative activity against K562 cells. • Alocasia macrorrhiza may have potential for the treatment of tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protease inhibitors from plants play major role in defensive mechanism against various pathogenic organisms. AMTIN from the tubers of Alocasia macrorrhiza has been purified and characterized as multi-functional Kunitz type protease inhibitor. AMTIN is varied from other KTIs by having three different loops specific for binding to trypsin/amylase and subtilisin that are located approximately 30 Ǻ away from one another as evidenced from crystallographic efforts. Biochemical studies on AMTIN reveal simultaneous binding of protease/amylase and have been cross validated using in-silico tools to model Amylase – AMTIN – Trypsin complex without any steric clashes. Apart from multi functionality, the remarkable structural and functional stability of AMTIN at high temperature, presence of many phosphorylation, myristoylation and glycosylation sites and molecular docking studies with dengue viral protease (NS2B-NS3) makes this protein interesting. Hence AMTIN can be considered as a template to design effective antivirals against dengue virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Five new lignanamides ( 1 – 5 ), and one new monoindole alkaloid ( 6 ), along with eight known compounds ( 7 –1 4 ) were isolated and identified from the rhizomes of Alocasia macrorrhiza (giant taro). All purified compounds were evaluated for their inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced nitric oxide (NO) production in RAW 264.7 cells, and the antiproliferative activities against human nasopharyngeal carcinoma epithelial (CNE-1), human gastric carcinoma (MGC-803), and human breast cancer (MCF-7) cell lines by MTT method. Compounds 2 , 4 , 7 and 8 exhibited significant inhibitory effects on NO production with the IC 50 values of 2.35 ± 0.38, 9.20 ± 0.94, 3.45 ± 0.39 and 7.96 ± 0.56 μM, respectively. The results suggested the lignanamides and monoindoles might be responsible for the anti-inflammatory activity of giant taro and might be potential anti-inflammatory candidates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alocasia macrorrhiza, which belongs to the Araceae family, is an important landscape plant in China, and has of significant medicinal uses. In 2022, A. macrorrhiza displaying abnormal symptoms were found in Qionghai, Hainan Island of China (110°23'3.06″，19°7'56.29″). The incidence of symptomatic plants was about 40% in the sampled areas. The abnormal symptoms included that the ovoid leaves color turned yellow from green gradually, with ovoid leaves chlorosis, mesophyll tissue yellowing, miniature leaves and systemic wilting. The diseased symptoms suspected to be associated with phytoplasma according to the protocols of phytoplasma identification. In order to identify the pathogen, eleven diseased samples and three asymptomatic samples were collected from an area of about 40 hectares. Total DNAs were extracted from 0.10 g fresh plant leaf tissues using a CTAB DNA extraction method. PCR amplifications were performed using primers R16mF2/R16mR1 and fTuf1/rTuf1 specific for the phytoplasma 16S rRNA and tuf genes. Target PCR amplicons were obtained from the DNA of 11 diseased samples, whereas not from the DNA of the asymptomatic samples. The PCR products were cloned and sequenced by Biotechnology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (Guangzhou, China), and the obtained sequences were assembled, edited and analyzed using the EditSeq program and DNAMAN version 6.0. The phytoplasma 16S rRNA and tuf gene amplicons were 1336 and 930 bp in length, respectively. The sequences of all 16S rRNA and tuf amplicons in this study were identical. The sequencing data were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers OR466206 (16S rDNA) and OR513090 (tuf). According to the methods and protocols of phytoplasma identified and classification, the phytoplasma strain was described as Alocasia macrorrhiza yellows (AmY) phytoplasma, AmY-hn strain. BLAST search were conducted based on 16Sr RNA and tuf genes. The results showed that the AmY-hn had 100 % 16Sr RNA sequence identity (1336 bp out of 1336 bp) with that of 16SrI-B subgroup phytoplasmas like onion yellows phytoplasma (OY-M, AP006628). The AmY-hn had 100 % tuf sequence identity (930 bp out of 930 bp) with that of 16SrI-B subgroup phytoplasmas like OY-M. RFLP profiles obtained with iPhyClassifier demonstrated that AmY-hn strain was a member of the 16SrI-B subgroup with a similarity coefficient 1.00 to the reference phytoplasma strain (AP006628). Separated phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA and tuf genes obtained with MEGA 7.0 using the neighbor-joining (NJ) method with 1000 bootstrap value indicated that AmY-hn clustered into one clade with phytoplasma strains of OY-M and chinaberry witches'-broom (KP662119) with 100 % and 87 % bootstrap value respectively. To our knowledge, this is the first report that a 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris'-related strain belonging to 16SrI-B subgroup infects A. macrorrhiza in China. The 16SrI-B subgroup 'Candidatus Phytoplasma asteris'-related strains can spread outwards through the plant A. macrorrhiza. Thus, the findings in the study will be beneficial to the detection of phytoplasmas which parasitic in this plant and the epidemic monitoring of the related diseases.

Alocasia macrorrhiza as used to study the effect of short time wet-dry alternation on its chlorophyll fluorescence parameters. The results showed that short time drought stress did not have obvious effects on plants chlorophyll fluorescence parameter for the first time, but the effect of short time flooding stress was significance. Under the first time flooding stress, the original fluorescence (F0) values of treat A and B were lower than that of the first time drought stress. The maximum fluorescence (Fm), efficiency of primary conversion of light energy of PS II ( Fv/Fm) and photochemical quenching coefficient (qP) obviously increased, especially, treat B significantly increased (P<0.05 ). F0 and Fm of treat C, D and E significantly increased (P <0.05 ), and their Fv/Fm, qP and qN significantly decreased (P <0.05). The results also showed that after the second drought stress, F0 and Fmof treat A and B ascended slightly, their Fv/Fm, qP and qN descended slightly, while F0 of treat C, D and E descended, their Fm, Fv/Fm, / and qN obviously increased with the increasing of flooding depth. It presented that rehydration at low water level in time, especially 1/4 drowned could improve the photosynthesis of Alocasia macrorrhiza, but high water level had stress effect and depressed the growth of plant. So, reducing flooding water level in time could relieve the stress effect and improve plant growth, which was better for deep water stressing plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]