Assessment of ways to use pastures in semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan

The authors presented research materials on the study of ways to use pastures in semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan. Purpose. Study of ways of grazing farm animals to increase productivity and rational use of pastures. The research object is the pasture lands of “Miras” farm in West Kazakhstan region. The research tasks were to select the most effective way of grazing, ensuring preservation and improvement of quantitative and qualitative indicators of semi-desert zone pastures. The research scientific novelty is in the fact that the determined grazing methods allow rational use of pasture resources and increase feed capacity of pasture lands. The studies were carried out in a semi-desert zone of West Kazakhstan on a relief and sandy area of pastures. Results. Unsystematic use of pastures reduces quantitative and qualitative indicators. In summer studies, the highest content of weeds and poisonous plants (9 %) was found on a pasture of unsystematic grazing. When using this method, the proportion of cereals in the phytocenosis was at least 9 %. In the composition of the phytocenosis used in an unsystematic way, an increase in the proportion of wormwood was noted up to 15 %. Here, in comparison with the 2nd seasonal pastures, the share of herbs (poorly eaten) is also high – 21 %. On the pastures used in a unsystematic way in the spring, the yield of herbage reached only 3.81 c/ha, which is less than the seasonal pastures by 2.50–4.28 c/ha or 65.6–112.3 %. In a semi-desert zone, to provide agricultural animals with high-grade and high-quality fodder, as well as to create a stock and reduce the shortage of fodder, it is advantageous to use seasonal pastures with the inclusion of a distant pasture area in the pasture rotation. The use of distant areas for seasonal use of pastures, increasing the duration of the pasture period by 120 days, allows the farm to additionally create the volume of actual feed storage at the level of 5 499.5 centners, reducing the level of feed deficit by 2 119.7 centners or 81.03 %.

CONİUM MACULATUM L. – LƏKƏLİ BADYAN BİTKİSİNİN BİOLOJİ XÜSUSİYYƏTLƏRİ

Açar sözlər: Apiaceae Lindl., Conium maculatum L., zəhərli bitkilər, alkoloidlər, qlikozidlər Key words: Apiaceae Lindl., Conium maculatum L., poisonous plants, alkaloids, glycosides Hesablamalara görə Yer kürəsində təqribən 10 mindən çox zəhərli bitki növünün olduğu güman edilir ki, onların da böyük əksəriyyəti tropik və subtropik zonalarda yayılmışdır, lakin soyuq iqlim qurşaqlarında da zəhərli bitkilərə rast gəlinir. Bitkilərdə həyat fəaliyyətləri dövründə əmələ gələn və özündə toplanan maddələrdən bir çoxu insanlar və digər canlılar tərəfindən istifadə edilir. Ən çox şəkərli, vitaminli və digər bioaktiv maddələrin toplandığı bitkilər təbiətdə canlılar tərəfindən sərf edilir, lakin bəzi bitkilər də vardır ki, onların sintez edərək vegetativ və ya generativ orqanlarında topladıqları maddələr insan və ya heyvanların qidalanması zamanı onları zəhərləyir.

Critical Analysis of Snuhi - Euphorbia Neriifolia (Upavisha- Poisonous Plant) and its Application as a Therapeutic Aid

Traditional system of medicines has vast applications of poisonous plants; hence the knowledge about poisonous plant and its therapeutic effects becomes very essential to develop a new drug for the new diseases like Covid 19 and other diseases. Many research studies have showed that the poisonous medicinal plants are endowed with properties like Antidiabetic, Anticancer, Antibacterial, Antifungal, and Cytogenetic effect. This study focused on one such drug called Snuhi - Euphorbia Neriifolia, a Upavisha or a poisonous plant to evaluate its therapeutic effects, which would be helpful for the mankind after the proper Shodhana (purification), by conducting experimental studies, toxicity studies and thereby applied in various diseases for its therapeutic benefits and to relieve the sufferings of the patients.

Diversity of undergrowth understorey in Sibolangit Nature Park, Deli Serdang Regency, North Sumatra, Indonesia

The Sibolangit Nature Park area is one of the Nature Parks in North Sumatra which has various types of diverse plants ranging from understorey, epiphytes and various endemic tree species. The purpose of this study was to see the diversity of understorey species found in the Sibolangit Nature Park and its benefits. The results showed that there were 27 types of understorey plants from 18 families. Based on the family, the most commonly found were the Araceae family, namely 6 species (22.22%) and Zingiberaceae (11.11%). The understorey has the potential for medicinal plants, ornamental plants, poisonous plants, etc. The results showed that there were 15 species (55.5%) which were included in the category of ornamental plants, 7 species (25.92%) were included in medicinal plants, 1 species of poisonous plants (3.70%), 1 species of spice plants (3,70%), and 1 species (3.70%) protected plants and 2 species (7.40%) could not be explained scientifically. A protected and endangered plant species is Amorphophallus titanum

Bulbous Plants Drimia: “A Thin Line between Poisonous and Healing Compounds” with Biological Activities

Drimia (synonym Urginea) plants are bulbous plants belonging to the family Asparagaceae (formerly the family Hyacinthaceae) and are distinctive, powerful medicinal plants. Just some species are indigenous to South Africa and have been traditionally utilized for centuries to cure various diseases and/or ailments. They have been recognized among the most famous and used medicinal plants in South Africa. Traditionally, the plants are used for various illnesses such as dropsy, respiratory disease, bone and joint complications, skin disorders, epilepsy and cancer. A number of studies have reported biological properties such as antiviral, antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and anticancer activities. Their bulbs are a popular treatment for colds, measles, pneumonia, coughs, fever and headaches. However, some plant species are regarded as one of the six most common poisonous plants in Southern Africa that are toxic to livestock and humans. Due to the therapeutic effects of the Drimia plant bulb, research has focused on the phytochemicals of Drimia species. The principal constituents isolated from this genus are cardiac glycosides. In addition, phenolic compounds, phytosterols and other phytochemical constituents were identified. This study constitutes a critical review of Drimia species’ bioactive compounds, toxicology, biological properties and phytochemistry, advocating it as an important source for effective therapeutic medicine. For this purpose, various scientific electronic databases such as ScienceDirect, Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed and Web of Science were researched and reviewed to conduct this study. Despite well-studied biological investigations, there is limited research on the toxic properties and the toxic compounds of certain Drimia species. Searching from 2017 to 2021, Google Scholar search tools retrieved 462 publications; however, only 3 investigated the toxicity and safety aspects of Drimia. The aim was to identify the current scientific research gap on Drimia species, hence highlighting a thin line between poisonous and healing compounds, dotted across numerous publications, in this review paper.

Unpalatable plants induce a species-specific associational effect on neighboring communities

In grazing conditions, unpalatable species may induce either associational defense or neighbor contrast susceptibility in neighboring communities. Using surveys from eight grasslands, we tested whether various unpalatable species have the same impacts on neighboring communities in response to grazing. The studied unpalatable species were: Phlomis cancellata (an unpalatable nonpoisonous plant), Euphorbia boissieriana, E.microsciadia (poisonous plants), and Seseli transcaucasicum (a highly poisonous plant). Our results showed that, in the ungrazed grasslands, communities containing P. cancellata had lower biodiversity than communities without it. In the moderately- and heavily grazed grasslands, P. cancellata induced associational defense in the neighboring communities. In heavily grazed grasslands, both Euphorbia species promoted neighbor contrast susceptibility in the neighboring communities. Similarly, S. transcaucasicum in a heavily grazed grassland, induced neighbor contrast susceptibility. Different responses of plant community vulnerability among the studied unpalatable plants might be due to herbivore different foraging decisions. Accordingly, grazers selectively choose from other patches when facing P. cancellata and other plant individuals when there is a poisonous plant in a patch. Our results suggested that grazing intensity may not substantially affect the foraging decisions of sheep and goats in response to unpalatable species. We recommend monitoring the abundance of poisonous species to maintain the sustainable use of grasslands.

A REVIEW ON SOME CULTIVATED AND NATIVE POISONOUS PLANTS IN ADEN GOVERNORATE, YEMEN

Plant poisoning is a health concern in many countries where plants are used either accidently, especially among children, or intentionally for purposes such as assassination, suicide, hunting, fishing and treating various diseases. Presently, despite the implementation of toxicology surveillance systems in many countries, plant poisoning continues to be a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality. In the Aden governorate of Yemen, there are no laws or regulations for the prevention of plant poisoning, despite the existence of several poisonous species in gardens, and as roadside trees planted by the local authority, or growing wildly in public areas. In addition, there is a lack of scientific studies on the risks of these poisonous plants. Therefore, we undertook this study, based on scientific review, to document and illustrate the botanical, geographical and toxicological characteristics of fourteen poisonous plants collected from different districts of Aden governorate. The documented poisonous species (6 species) belong to Apocynaceae followed by Fabaceae (2 species), whereas Aristolochiaceae, Cucurbitaceae, Dracaenaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Meliaceae, and Verbenaceae are represented by one species each. The toxic parts of the majority of studied poisonous species are the whole plant, latex, seeds, and fruits. Cardiotoxicity, cytotoxicity, gastrointestinal toxicity, and inflammation of skin and mucous membrane are the main clinical manifestations. They are caused by varying amounts of plant toxins such as cardiac glycosides in Calotropis procera, Cryptostegia grandiflora, Nerium oleander and Thevetia peruviana, and cytotoxic toxins such as toxalbumins in Abrus precatorius and Ricinus communis, aristolochic acids in Aristolochia bracteolate, and vinca alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus, as well as gastrointestinal toxins such as cucurbitacins in Citrullus colocynthis, and tannins in Caesalpinia pulcherrima. Inflammation of skin and mucous membrane is caused by calcium oxalate crystals in Calotropis procera latex, and soluble protein in Cryptostegia grandiflora latex. Moreover, Azadirachta indica caused a number of toxicities attributed partially to tetranortriterpenoids, while Sansevieria trifasciata toxicity was reported to be low. The significance of this work is to promote the awareness among the local authority to take legal actions against plant poisoning. In addition, it provides the physicians with scientific information for the diagnosis and treatment of poisoning by some plants. It is hoped that this study motivates researchers to conduct further research on poisonous plants throughout Yemen.