scholarly journals Taxol Concentration In Taxus Cultivars

1992 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 187-191
Author(s):  
Mary Jane Incorvia Mattina ◽  
Anthony A. Paiva

Abstract Taxol is a naturally occurring diterpene alkaloid which has significant anticancer activity. In order to assess the full chemotherapeutic potential of the drug, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) requires sufficient material for the treatment of 12,000 patients with a variety of cancers. The current principal source of the compound is the bark of the Pacific yew tree, Taxus brevifolia. While NCI's short range goal may be achieved through the processing of T. brevifolia bark, it is imperative to identify alternative or supplemental sources of taxol for environmental, economic, and humanitarian reasons. One potential source of the drug is biomass from commercial Taxus plantings. In this study needles from 14 cultivars of Taxus were analyzed for taxol content. Samples were obtained from 7- to 12-year-old plants at four commercial nurseries, as well as 15-year-old plantings from the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station's test plots. Taxol concentrations in the needles varied from a low of 118 ppm in T. cuspidata ‘Sieboldii’ to a high of 882 ppm in T. x media ‘Nigra’ on a dry weight basis.

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 16-20
Author(s):  
Ranjana Sarma ◽  

Chemotherapeutic intervention for cancer care is an important step. One of the most effective chemotherapy agents in use today is Paclitaxel (PTX), sold under the common name Taxol and Oxanol. Due to its ability to inhibit microtubule formation in cells, PTX is effective at all stages of the cancer and is FDA approved for treatment of many types of cancer (ovarian cancer, esophageal cancer, breast cancer, lung cancer, Kaposi sarcoma, cervical cancer, and pancreatic cancer). PTX is a plant alkaloid in the taxane family of compounds obtained from bark of the Pacific Yew tree (Taxus brevifolia) [1]. Adequate market supply of PTX has remained a challenge, as paclitaxel represents only a minor proportion of the total taxoid content of the Taxus species. Over the years, research into finding an alternate to cutting down Yew trees for PTX harvesting has been on the forefront. It is estimated that up to 60 trees may need to be harvested for the treatment of one patient.


Author(s):  
I.M. Ritchie ◽  
C.C. Boswell ◽  
A.M. Badland

HERBACE DISSECTION is the process in which samples of herbage cut from trials are separated by hand into component species. Heavy reliance is placed on herbage dissection as an analytical tool ,in New Zealand, and in the four botanical analysis laboratories in the Research Division of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries about 20 000 samples are analysed each year. In the laboratory a representative subsample is taken by a rigorous quartering procedure until approximately 400 pieces of herbage remain. Each leaf fragment is then identified to species level or groups of these as appropriate. The fractions are then dried and the composition calculated on a percentage dry weight basis. The accuracy of the analyses of these laboratories has been monitored by a system of interchanging herbage dissection samples between them. From this, the need to separate subsampling errors from problems of plant identification was, appreciated and some of this work is described here.


1989 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 161-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. I. Kayal ◽  
D. W. Connell

Results of the analysis of twenty-three composite sediment samples revealed that PAHs are widely distributed in the Brisbane River estuary. Mean concentrations for individual compounds, on a dry weight basis, ranged from 0.03 µg/g for dibenz [ah] anthracene to 2.34 µg/g for fluoranthene. Observed PAH assemblages were rich in compounds having pyrolytic origins. However, the presence of petroleum derived compounds was indicative of the importance of petroleum as a PAH source in the estuary. Petroleum refineries, a coal loading terminal and a major treated sewage outfall located at the mouth were not indicated as major contributing sources of PAH pollution in the estuary.


1985 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 855-861 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Prégent ◽  
C. Camiré

Invitro cultures of Alnuscrispa (Ait.) Pursh and Alnusglutinosa (L.) Gaertn. were used to estimate critical foliage levels of selected nutrients for optimal growth and dinitrogen (N2) fixation. For A. crispa to obtain 90% of maximum growth and N2 fixation, foliar levels of 0.12% P, 0.13% Mg, <0.31% K, and <0.04% Ca on a dry weight basis were needed. For A. glutinosa, the critical levels were 0.138% P, 0.10% Mg, 0.29% Ca, and ~0.20% K. From all the deficiencies observed, P had the more pronounced effects on N status of both species.


1983 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 415-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. G. GREEN

Alfa, a relatively nonhardy alfalfa cultivar continued to accumulate, on a dry weight basis, fructose, α- and β-D-glucose, sucrose and maltose during the latter stages of cold hardening. Rambler, a hardier alfalfa cultivar conversely showed a decrease for these soluble sugars with hardening. Frontier rye, a very hardy winter habit cereal showed decreases in these soluble sugars plus melibiose during the same hardening period. These results support the hypothesis that hardy cereals and alfalfa undergo a decrease in soluble sugars with hardening, while less hardy cereals and alfalfa continue to increase in content of soluble sugars. Manitou wheat appeared not to fit this hypothesis and showed the decreased soluble sugars usually associated with hardy cultivars. Although Manitou is a spring type wheat, one of its parents, Thatcher, does contain gene(s) for the winter habit.Key words: Sugar, cold hardening, wheat, rye, alfalfa


1954 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 381-399 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Hubbard

The sedimentation behavior of aqueous solutions of digitonin and of cattle rhodopsin in digitonin has been examined in the ultracentrifuge. In confirmation of earlier work, digitonin was found to sediment as a micelle (D-1) with an s20 of about 6.35 Svedberg units, and containing at least 60 molecules. The rhodopsin solutions sediment as a stoichiometric complex of rhodopsin with digitonin (RD-1) with an s20 of about 9.77 Svedberg units. The s20 of the RD-1 micelle is constant between pH 6.3 and 9.6, and in the presence of excess digitonin. RD-1 travels as a single boundary also in the electrophoresis apparatus at pH 8.5, and on filter paper at pH 8.0. The molecular weight of the RD-1 micelle lies between 260,000 and 290,000. Of this, only about 40,000 gm. are due to rhodopsin; the rest is digitonin (180 to 200 moles). Comparison of the relative concentrations of RD-1 and retinene in solutions of rhodopsin-digitonin shows that RD-1 contains only one retinene equivalent. It can therefore contain only one molecule of rhodopsin with a molecular weight of about 40,000. Cattle rhodopsin therefore contains only one chromophore consisting of a single molecule of retinene. It is likely that frog rhodopsin has a similar molecular weight and also contains only one chromophore per molecule. The molar extinction coefficient of rhodopsin is therefore identical with the extinction coefficient per mole of retinene (40,600 cm.2 per mole) and the E(1 per cent, 1 cm., 500 mµ) has a value of about 10. Rhodopsin constitutes about 14 per cent of the dry weight, and 3.7 per cent of the wet weight of cattle outer limbs. This corresponds to about 4.2 x 106 molecules of rhodopsin per outer limb. The rhodopsin content of frog outer limbs is considerably higher: about 35 per cent of the dry weight, and 10 per cent of the wet weight, corresponding to about 2.1 x 109 molecules per outer limb. Thus the frog outer limb contains about five hundred times as much rhodopsin as the cattle outer limb. But the relative volumes of these structures are such that the ratio of concentrations is only about 2.5 to 1 on a weight basis. Rhodopsin accounts for at least one-fifth of the total protein of the cattle outer limb; for the frog, this value must be higher. The extinction (K500) along its axis is about 0.037 cm.2 for the cattle outer limb, and about 0.50 cm.2 for the frog outer limb.


1985 ◽  
Vol 48 (12) ◽  
pp. 1040-1043 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. E. KOEHLER ◽  
L. R. BEUCHAT ◽  
M. S. CHHINNAN

Experiments were done to determine the influence of temperature (21, 30 and 37°C) and aw (0.76 to 0.98) on aflatoxin production by Aspergillus flavus on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) seeds, meal and meal supplemented with onion. Larger quantities of aflatoxin were produced at 21 and 30°C than at 37°C. The highest amount of aflatoxin (2777 μg/20 g, dry weight basis) was observed in meal containing onion at aw 0.98 after 20 d of incubation at 21°C. A level of 870 |μg/20 g was detected in seeds at aw 0.95 after 14 d of incubation at 30°C. Meal at aw 0.96 supported production of 551 μg of aflatoxin per 20 g after 20 d at 30° C. Temperature had little influence on the optimal aw for aflatoxin production in cowpea meal. However, an increase in temperature resulted in a decreased optimal aw for aflatoxin production on whole cowpeas. When known quantities of aflatoxin were added to cowpea meal which was subsequently steamed for 5 min, only 29% was extractable using a variety of procedures, indicating that the toxin may be bound in some manner to cowpea constituents as a result of heat treatment.


1977 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 489-495 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sherman D. Nelson ◽  
James M. Mayo

Abaxial epidermal strips from leaves of Paphiopedilum leeanum were analyzed via sodium cobaltinitrite staining and atomic absorption spectrophotometry for the presence and location of potassium. On a dry weight basis K content of the abaxial epidermis was found to be 103 times less than has been reported in other species, and unlike other species no localization of K+ in guard cells of open stomata could be detected via the sodium cobaltinitrite stain for potassium.Flame photometric analysis of the mesophyll indicated that it contained normal amounts of K+ (about 1.87% on a dry weight basis). Analysis showed that the K+ content of the abaxial epidermis (0.032%) was considerably less than that of the mesophyll, a situation unlike previous reports for other species in which the epidermal concentration was found to be greater than the mesophyll. A process for exclusion of K+ from the abaxial epidermis is suggested, as is the lack of involvement of K+ as the major osmoticum in the stomatal mechanism of this species.


Eng ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 608-619
Author(s):  
David Mc Gaw ◽  
Rosemarie Skeene

Turmeric (Curcuma longa L.) is a spice plant grown in the tropics that contains both an essential oil and an oleoresin. The essential oil is important as a flavouring and has pharmaceutical properties, while the oleoresin is bright yellow in colour and has medicinal properties. The essential oil has traditionally been extracted by hydrodistillation/steam distillation with the total extract being extracted by solvent extraction and more recently by supercritical fluid extraction (SFE). The objective of the work described in this paper was to investigate the possibility of extracting the essential oil using sub-critical fluid extraction and to compare it with hydrodistillation. The experiments using hydrodistillation showed that unpeeled fresh turmeric was the preferred raw material, giving an oil yield of ≈6% dry weight basis, which is similar to that reported in the literature. The experimental programme on the extraction of the oil from dried unpeeled turmeric was carried out over a temperature range from 25 to 30 °C and pressures from 65 to 71 bar. Yields were generally higher than hydrodistillation (up to ≈9% dry weight basis) as were the compositions of the extracted oils. The preferred operating conditions were determined to be 25 °C temperature and 65 bar pressure. Curcumin, the major component of the oleoresin, was not found in the oil, thereby demonstrating that the sub-critical extract is a pure essential oil. It is suggested that consideration be given to evaluating an SFE process whereby the essential oil is initially fully extracted under sub-critical fluid extraction conditions, after which the oleoresin is extracted separately by raising the pressure to ≈250 bar.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penko Papazov

The aim of this study was to perform analysis by flame and graphite furnace AAS the content of Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn and Fe in wild edible mushrooms Suillus luteus. The samples were collected from the Batak Mountain. All metals concentrations were determined on a dry weight basis. The average content of studied elements: Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, Mn, Co, Cu, Zn and Fe in Suillus luteus samples were: 0.66 mg kg-1, 0.52 mg kg-1, 0.55 mg kg-1, 0.51 mg kg-1, 11.33 mg kg-1, 0.98 mg kg-1, 19.28 mg kg-1, 51.67 mg kg-1, and 114.41 mg kg-1.


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