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Currently, the negative effects of unified and intensive agriculture are of growing concern. To mitigate them, the possibilities of using local but nowadays underused crop for food production should be more thoroughly investigated and promoted. The soybean is the major crop cultivated for vegetable oil production in Zambia, while the oil production from local oil-bearing plants is neglected. The chemical composition of oils and cakes of a three traditional oil plant used by descendants of the Lozi people for cooking were investigated. Parinari curatellifolia and Schinziophyton rautanenii oils were chiefly composed of α-eleostearic (28.58–55.96%), linoleic (9.78–40.18%), and oleic acid (15.26–24.07%), whereas Ochna serrulata contained mainly palmitic (35.62–37.31%), oleic (37.31–46.80%), and linoleic acid (10.61–18.66%), the oil yield was high (39–71%). S. rautanenii and O. serrulata oils were rich in γ-tocopherol (3236.18 μg/g, 361.11 μg/g, respectively). The O. serrulata oil also had a very distinctive aroma predominantly composed of p-cymene (52.26%), m-xylene (9.63%), γ-terpinene (9.07%), o-xylene (7.97), and limonene (7.23%). The cakes remaining after oil extraction are a good source of essential minerals, being rich in N, P, S, K, Ca, and Mg. These plants have the potential to be introduced for use in the food, technical, or pharmaceutical industries.

This paper reports the phytochemistry and biological activities (antimalarial and cytotoxicity) of compounds isolated from aerial parts of Ochna serrulata. Silica gel chromatography followed by repeated chromatotron on the stem bark extract of the plant yielded a new dimeric chalcone (5-deoxyurundeuvine C) along with lophirone C, lophirone A, afzelone B, epicatechin, methyl (2′,4′-dihydroxyphenyl)acetate and a mixture of campylospermone A and isocampylospermone A. From the leaves extract, ochnaflavone, 2″,3″-dihydroochnaflavone, vitexin-6″-O-acetate, 3′-methoxyvitexin-6″-O-acetate and (2′,4′-dihydroxyphenyl)acetic acid were isolated and characterized. A cyanoglucoside was isolated from an extract of flowers and fruits of the plant. The proposed structures of the respective new and known compounds were assigned by using 1D and 2D NMR techniques as well as Mass spectrometry. The cytotoxicity activity of the compounds was tested using sulforhodamine B (SRB) assay in three different cancer cell lines namely, UACC62 (melanoma), TK 10 (renal), and MCF7 (breast). Ochnaflavone and 3′-methoxyvitexin-6″-O-acetate inhibited the growth of UACC62 at TGI (Total Growth Inhibition concentration) 12.91 and 14.11 µM, respectively. The cytotoxic activities of lophirone C were found to be TGI = 35.63, 11.67 and 30.35 µM, against TK, UACC62 and MCF7 cancer cells respectively. Lophirone A exhibited TGI against these cancer cells at 58.96, 26.23 and 40.01 µM, respectively. The rest of the compounds exhibited no significant cytotoxicity against the three cancer cells. Moreover, the compounds were evaluated for antimalarial activity against FCR-3 (chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium falciparum) strains. Ochnaflavone demonstrated the highest activity IC50 = 17.25 µM, followed by lophirone A (29.78 µM), 5-deoxyurundeuvine C (31.07 µM), lophirone C (35.31 µM), afzelone B (39.54 µM), 2″,3″-dihydroochnaflavone (61.86 µM) and 3′-methoxyvitexin-6″-O-acetate (106.35 µM). These results concur with the traditional use of the genus in the treatment of various ailments.Keywords: 5-Deoxyurundeuvine C, Biflavonoid, Cytotoxicity, Antimalarial, Ochna serrulata

Extracts and fractions of some Ochna species had excellent antibacterial activity. Before considering the potential therapeutic use of these extracts it is important to determine the safety of extracts. The cytotoxicity of Ochna natalitia , Ochna pretoriensis , Ochna pulchra , Ochna gamostigmata, and Ochna serrulata (Ochnaceae) was determined in monkey kidney (Vero) cells, human hepatocellular carcinoma (C3A) cells and bovine dermis cells using the mitochondrial viability MTT assay. Their potential mutagenic effects were also determined using the Ames test with strains Salmonella typhimurium TA98 and TA100 with and without metabolic activation. The LC 50 values (the lethal concentration at which 50% of the cells are killed) of the extracts on the various cell lines ranged from 26 to 99 μg/ml. None of the plant species was mutagenic (mutagenic index values ≤ 1.59 for TA98 and ≤ 0.92 for TA100). In a previous study, we determined the antibacterial activity of the five extracts against Staphylococcus aureus , Escherichia coli , Enterococcus faecalis and Pseudomonas aeruginosa . From this we calculated the selectivity index (SI) values by dividing the LC 50 value by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) to obtain the ratio of toxicity to bioactivity of each extract. The plant extracts had low SI values ≤ 1.307. This is a clear indication of non-selective toxicity, i.e. extracts are almost equally toxic to the bacteria and mammalian cell lines used in the assays. As a result, the extracts may have limited application as ingestible or intravenous therapeutic agents based on the in vitro findings. However, it may be necessary to also evaluate in vivo toxicity of the extracts in animal models as in vitro toxicity does not always equate to in vivo toxicity because of the difference in physiological microenvironment in live animals and tissue culture. Additionally, if it is the case that the toxic compounds are not the same as the active compounds, it may be possible to potentiate the extracts by the removal of toxic compounds and concentration of active compounds. The extracts may then be useful for development into treatments for topical bacterial infections.

Ochna serrulata (Ochnaceae) is an ornamental plant introduced into Brazil from Asia and Africa. Species of the Ochna genus are rich in phenolic compounds, mainly flavonoids. The biological screening of extracts and fractions showed that this plant exhibited a significant antioxidant activity, when evaluated by the DPPH and reducing potential assays. Ochna serrulata also demonstrated slight toxic activity against Artemia salina and a potential inhibitory allelopathic activity, when evaluated using the Lactuca sativa seed germination test. The ethyl acetate fraction, the most active one, was partitioned on a silica gel column to obtain epicatechin, which showed potential antioxidant activity., Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aires

We investigated aspects of the reproductive ecology of Ochna serrulata (Hochst.) Walp., an invasive plant in eastern Australia. O. serrulata drupes were similar in size to fleshy fruits of other local invasive plants, but showed some distinct differences in quality, with a very high pulp lipid content (32.8% of dry weight), and little sugar and water. Seeds were dispersed by figbirds, Sphecotheres viridis Vieillot, a locally abundant frugivore, and comprised between 10 and 50% of all non-Ficus spp. fruit consumed during October and November. The rate of removal of O. serrulata drupes was greater in bushland than suburban habitats, indicating that control in bushland habitats should be a priority, but also that suburban habitats are likely to act as significant seed sources for reinvasion of bushland. Germination occurred under all seed-processing treatments (with and without pulp, and figbird gut passage), suggesting that although frugivores are important for dispersal, they are not essential for germination. Recruitment of buried and surface-sown seed differed between greenhouse and field experiments, with minimal recruitment of surface-sown seed in the field. Seed persistence was low, particularly under field conditions, with 0.75% seed viability after 6 months and 0% at 12 months. This provides an opportunity to target control efforts in south-eastern Queensland in spring before fruit set, when there is predicted to be few viable seeds in the soil.