scholarly journals Four Centuries of Medicinal Mosses and Liverworts in European Ethnopharmacy and Scientific Pharmacy: A Review

Plants ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (7) ◽  
pp. 1296
Author(s):  
Jacek Drobnik ◽  
Adam Stebel

(1) Medicinal use of bryophytes dates to ancient times, but it has always been marginal due to their small size, difficult identification, lack of conspicuous organs which would attract attention (flowers, fruits) and insipid taste of the herb. The earliest testimonies of their medical use come from the 1500s. The interest in medicinal bryophytes diminished considerably in the 1880s, except for Sphagnum spp., which became a source of dressing material. The second half of the 20th century saw the revival of the study of bryophyte chemistry. (2) Historical printed sources from 1616 to 1889 were queried. Bryophyte species found were taxonomically identified and presented against the background of their confirmed properties and ecology. The study was supplemented with historical vs. modern ethnomedicinal data. (3) In 26 publications, 28 species were identified. Modern usage was known for 10 of them. Medicinal properties of 16 species were confirmed. (4) Species of wide geographical distribution range were (or are still being) used in local folk medicines. Historical ethnobiological and ethnopharmaceutical uses of them are sometimes convergent with their confirmed properties, mostly external (as antimicrobial or cytotoxic remedies).

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-127
Author(s):  
Izzati Shahira Rosidi Sujanto ◽  
Nur Syahidah Ramly ◽  
Asmaliza Abd Ghani ◽  
John Tang Yew Huat ◽  
Nadiawati Alias ◽  
...  

Honey produced by the stingless bee were use since ancient times in almost every continent as food or for medicinal purposes. The usage of stingless bee honey proceeds from its composition and functional properties. Stingless bee honey has been reported to have many medicinal properties such as antiseptic, antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, and wound-healing properties. Since early 20th century, various studies on the composition and functional properties of honey have been conducted worldwide and findings were tremendous. Stingless bee honey reported to have hundreds of bioactive compound. However, the composition and functional properties of stingless bee honey is differs depending on the source of honey; either influenced by the location of hive or by the species of stingless bee itself. This review provides the information on the composition and functional properties of stingless bee honey reported worldwide. The information gathered is very important to understand and to explain about the variability of nutritional composition in honey and how it might influence the value of stingless bee honeys as medicinal food.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (11) ◽  

The authors present an outline of the development of thyroid surgery from the ancient times to the beginning of the 20th century, when the definitive surgical technique have been developed and the physiologic and pathopfysiologic consequences of thyroid resections have been described. The key representatives, as well as the contribution of the most influential czech surgeons are mentioned.


Diversity ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 47
Author(s):  
Eric Buffetaut ◽  
Delphine Angst

A large incomplete ostrich femur from the Lower Pleistocene of North China, kept at the Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle (Paris), is described. It was found by Father Emile Licent in 1925 in the Nihewan Formation (dated at about 1.8 Ma) of Hebei Province. On the basis of the minimum circumference of the shaft, a mass of 300 kg, twice that of a modern ostrich, was obtained. The bone is remarkably robust, more so than the femur of the more recent, Late Pleistocene, Struthio anderssoni from China, and resembles in that regard Pachystruthio Kretzoi, 1954, a genus known from the Lower Pleistocene of Hungary, Georgia and the Crimea, to which the Nihewan specimen is referred, as Pachystruthio indet. This find testifies to the wide geographical distribution of very massive ostriches in the Early Pleistocene of Eurasia. The giant ostrich from Nihewan was contemporaneous with the early hominins who inhabited that region in the Early Pleistocene.


Foods ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (8) ◽  
pp. 1709
Author(s):  
Célia Faustino ◽  
Lídia Pinheiro

Honey has been used as a nutraceutical product since ancient times due to its nutritional and medicinal properties. Honey rheology influences its organoleptic properties and is relevant for processing and quality control. This review summarizes the rheological behaviour of honeys of different botanical source(s) and geographical locations that has been described in the literature, focusing on the relation between rheological parameters, honey composition (moisture, water activity, sugar content, presence of colloidal matter) and experimental conditions (temperature, time, stress, shear rate). Both liquid and crystallized honeys have been addressed. Firstly, the main mathematical models used to describe honey rheological behaviour are presented highlighting moisture and temperature effects. Then, rheological data from the literature regarding distinct honey types from different countries is analysed and results are compared. Although most honeys are Newtonian fluids, interesting shear-thinning and thixotropic as well as anti-thixotropic behaviour have been described for some types of honey. Rheological parameters have also been successfully applied to identify honey adulteration and to discriminate between different honey types. Several chemometric techniques have also been employed to obtain the complex relationships between honey physicochemical and rheological properties, including partial least squares (PLS), principal component analysis (PCA) and artificial neural networks (ANN).


Phytotaxa ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 317 (4) ◽  
pp. 297 ◽  
Author(s):  
OTÁVIO LUIS MARQUES DA SILVA ◽  
INÊS CORDEIRO

Within Astraea Klotzsch (1841: 194), Astraea lobata (Linnaeus 1753: 1005) Klotzsch (1841: 194) may be considered the most taxonomically complex species due to its wide geographical distribution and the several varieties that have been proposed for this species by Müller Argoviensis (1866, 1874). In his concept, Müller Argoviensis (1866) united under Croton lobatus Linnaeus (1753: 1005) plants with 3–5-partite leaves almost as long as the petioles, subulate stipules, the bracts not well developed and ovaries with varied indumentum. In De Candolles’s Prodromus, Müller Argoviensis (1866) recognized eight varieties, maintaining this concept in the Flora Brasiliensis (Müller Argoviensis 1874) with few modifications. Morphological characters and geographical distribution support the recognition of some of these varieties as species distinct from A. lobata. As part of an undergoing taxonomic revision of Astraea, these distinct taxa must be validly published for further studies on this genus. Therefore, in this note we propose these novelties with commentaries about morphology and geographic distribution, along with photos to illustrate them and lectotypifications when necessary.


Phytotaxa ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 490 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-106
Author(s):  
MATHIAS ERICH ENGELS ◽  
ANA KELLY KOCH

Vanilla materials collected during botanical explorations in the Northern region of the Mato Grosso State and the South of Pará State, Brazil were identified as V. ribeiroi. An elusive species that was originally described at the beginning of the 20th century, as part of the Rondon Commission. Vanilla ribeiroi is recircumbscribed on the basis of the original and fresh materials, an epitype is designed, and the distribution of the species is extended.


2021 ◽  
Vol p5 (6) ◽  
pp. 3101-3108
Author(s):  
Pathania Singh Mamta ◽  
Bhardwaj Payal ◽  
Pathania Singh Dhirendra

Herbal medicines are in practice since time immortal. India has probably the oldest, richest and most diverse cul- tural traditions within the use of medicinal plants. Indians 3500 BC, Chinese 3000 BC and Egyptians 2500 BC knew the properties of medicinal plants. Medicinal plants' use is still a living tradition. This is supported by the fact that there exists around a million traditional, village-based carriers of herbal medicine traditions in the form of traditional birth attendants, visha voids, bonesetters, herbal healers and wandering monks. Tribal people who live in harmony with nature and the environment share an intimate relationship with the plants. Beneficial medicinal properties of plants have been used in some forms or the other by these tribal people and cures were effective without any harmful side effects. The medicinal plants come from categories of shrubs, herbs and trees. Various parts of these plants which are used include fruits, roots, leaves, flowers, seeds, extract etc. and are of immense use to mankind; they are a part of our daily lives, making us wealthy with the world's greatest treasure- Health. Medic- inal plants have served humankind, for hundreds of years and still, these plants are used traditionally to cure vari- ous diseases. Some of the selected plants of district Solan were analyzed for their medicinal use with the help of information gathered from local people. Keywords: Medicinal plants, Herbal medicines, shrubs, Solan


Author(s):  
Angitha Ajay ◽  
Rupesh Kumar M ◽  
Shamal Badhusha PA ◽  
Abhishek K ◽  
Sanjay K Gowda ◽  
...  

Chromolaena odorata (Asteraceae) is commonly referred to as Siam Weed, a major medicinal plant found in tropical Asia, Australia, and West Africa. The medicinal use of Chromolaena odorata had been documented in the conventional system such as the Siddha, Unani, Ayurveda. The pharmacological properties of this plant are widely varying. A wide variety of attractive but limited compounds were extracted from this Chromolaena odorata and the pharmacological  activities   were   screened   out.   This   review   the   various   properties  of Chromolaena odorata and focus on its various medicinal properties. It is an attractive subject for further experimental and clinical investigations. This article will give an exhaustive summary and analysis of Chromolaena odorata pharmacological activities. The present article including the detailed exploration of pharmacological properties of C. odorata is an attempt to provide a direction for further research.


Author(s):  
Akanksha Awasthi ◽  
Nisha

The plant science that studies the historical and current uses of plants is called ethnobotany. Spices and herbs have since medieval times been categorized as having medicinal properties. India is a land of spices, and several spices have been grown in the country. Buchanania lanzan Spreng, commonly known as char, achar, and chironji, is one among these spices. It has been referred to as one having immense value and medicinal use. The chapter discusses the cultivation, uses, chemical constituents, and therapeutic activities of Buchanania lanzan Spreng and emphasizes the need for and importance of pharmacognostic study.


2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lola Rahib ◽  
Anitra Engebretson ◽  
Michael J. Pishvaian ◽  
Jonathan R. Brody ◽  
William A. Hoos ◽  
...  

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