Impact of dietary leaf extracts of Black pepper Piper nigrum L. on the growth, hematological and immunological parameters of Labeo rohita (Hamilton, 1822) cultured in glass aquaria

A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Piper nigrum (black pepper) leaf extract on on the growth performance, proximate composition, hematological parameters, and immune response of Labeo rohita fingerlings with an average weight of 22.14 ± 0.98g. Aftrer acclimation for two weeks, fish (n=25) were randomly selected and placed in four glass aquaria (T0, T1, T2 and T3) at constant water temperature (30.0 ± 1.0 °C), pH (7.50 ± 0.5) and total hardness (200 ± 2.0 mgL,-1) for a period of 12 weeks, with three replicates each. Fish were fed with P. nigrum leaf extract supplemented feed @ 0.0%, 1.0%, 2.0% and 3.0% in T0, T1,T2 and T3, respectively. At the end of experiment, five fish were randomly selected from each aquaria for proximate composition, gut and skin microbial load, hematological parameters. Total proteins, albumins, and globulins were also recorded to evaluate immunological memory. The result revealed that fish in T2 showed better growth performance with an average weight gain of 56.11 ± 0.51 g. Thus, it had been concluded that Piper nigrum, a medicinal plant, can also be used to enhance the growth performance and immune response of Labeo rohita as attractive alternatives against antibiotics and vaccines and has shown no negative side effects on fish health as well as on its environment.

The Potential Health Benefits of Papaya Seeds

Papaya (Carica papaya) is a tropical fruit having commercial importance because of its high nutritive and medicinal value. Papaya seeds are traditionally used by human beings from centuries to heal many illnesses. Papaya seeds contains antioxidants and antimicrobial virtues which gives protection against harmful free radicals and reduce rate of cancer and heart disease. Papaya seeds contain a variety of essential macro and micronutrients. The papaya seeds contain large amounts of nutrients, including fibre which is effective for combating constipation and other digestive problems. Seeds can be used to treat health complications such as urinary tract infection, candidiasis and sepsis. Papaya seeds are sometimes used in salads and can even be used as a substitute for black pepper. Products developed from papaya seeds are considered to be nutritionally rich with diverse sources of all nutrients. Papaya seeds have the potential to produce oil with nutritional and functional properties highly similar to olive oil. The papaya seed, and products may be useful for bio-fuel, medicinal and industrial purposes. Therefore, Papaya seeds are usually thrown away but their proper utilization can lead to the development of novel drug in medicine and considered as safe for consumption. ‘In this review subtopics covered are nutritional and Phytochemicals composition, antioxidant effect, antibacterial Activity, anthelminthic effect, Phytochemicals with Anticancer activity, Lycopene and isothiocyanate applications in papaya, papaya seed products and in vivo animal studies.’

Can lifestyle factors be the key in deciding the COVID-19 outcome?

The COVID-19 recovery rate of 97.3% and the death per million of 345 in India are better than the corresponding values in the USA and most of Europe despite better health infrastructure in these countries. The mean COVID fatality rate of Europe and a few countries in America is seven times that of India. This warrants a systematic study of the factors behind this conspicuous disparity. It is time to study lifestyle and other factors that may be related to recovery with minimal medical intervention or serious complications, leading to belated recovery and sometimes mortality. Obesity and excessive consumption of soft drinks, red meat and processed food may have a role to play in the European and American countries. On the other hand, the use of turmeric, black pepper, ginger in daily cooking, consumption of Indian gooseberry, Tulasi, different decoctions (Kashaya) and practice of various immune-boosting breathing exercises including yoga might have had a role in India. A detailed study involving a sizable number of cases of recovery and death in India, USA and some European countries will throw light on these factors behind the significant differences. The results shall provide crucial learning to the world for managing future waves and pandemics.

Anticancer Applications and Pharmacological Properties of Piperidine and Piperine: A Comprehensive Review on Molecular Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives

Piperine and piperidine are the two major alkaloids extracted from black pepper (Piper nigrum); piperidine is a heterocyclic moiety that has the molecular formula (CH2)5NH. Over the years, many therapeutic properties including anticancer potential of these two compounds have been observed. Piperine has therapeutic potential against cancers such as breast cancer, ovarian cancer, gastric cancer, gliomal cancer, lung cancer, oral squamous, chronic pancreatitis, prostate cancer, rectal cancer, cervical cancer, and leukemia. Whereas, piperidine acts as a potential clinical agent against cancers, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, lung cancer, and ovarian cancer, when treated alone or in combination with some novel drugs. Several crucial signalling pathways essential for the establishment of cancers such as STAT-3, NF-κB, PI3k/Aκt, JNK/p38-MAPK, TGF-ß/SMAD, Smac/DIABLO, p-IκB etc., are regulated by these two phytochemicals. Both of these phytochemicals lead to inhibition of cell migration and help in cell cycle arrest to inhibit survivability of cancer cells. The current review highlights the pharmaceutical relevance of both piperine and piperidine against different types of cancers.

An Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometric Method for the Determination of Toxic and Nutrient Metals in Spices after Pressure-Assisted Digestion

The aim of this study was to develop a simple and rapid inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometric (ICP-OES) method for the determination of 17 metals (Ag, Al, B, Ba, Bi, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Tl and Zn) in packaged spices. For this purpose, the spice samples (200 mg) in the form of powder were submitted to pressure-assisted wet-acid digestion with a mixture of 6 mL concentrated HNO3 and 1 mL H2O2. The proposed method was validated in terms of linearity, trueness, precision, limits of detection (LODs) and limits of quantification (LOQs). Good method trueness, precision and linearity were observed for the examined elements. The LODs of the examined analytes ranged between 0.08 and 5.95 mg kg−1. The present method was employed for the analysis of twenty-two packaged commercially available spices including asteroid anise, clove, cardamon, cinnamon, curry, coriander, turmeric, cumin, white pepper, black pepper, nutmeg, allspice, red pepper, paprika, ginger, green pepper and pink pepper from the Greek market that are widely consumed. A wide variety of metal of different concentration ranges were determined in the samples.

Black pepper (Piper nigrum) fruit-based gold nanoparticles (BP-AuNPs): Synthesis, characterization, biological activities, and catalytic applications – A green approach

As compared to conventional techniques, currently nanotechnology has gained significant attention of scientists for the development of plant-based natural nanoparticles (NPs) due to their safety, effectiveness, and environment friendly nature. The current study was aimed for development, characterization (energy-dispersive X-ray, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy), and evaluation of the biological efficiency of black pepper (BP; Piper nigrum) fruit-based gold NPs (BP-AuNPs) through different in vitro and in vivo assays. BP extract revealed maximum antibacterial and antifungal potential against Escherichia coli (24 mm) and Aspergillus flavus (47 mm), respectively. However, BP-AuNPs (200 µg·mL−1) inhibited the urease, xanthine oxidase, and carbonic acid-II activities with a percent inhibition of 83.11%, 91.28%, and 86.87%, respectively. Further, the anti-inflammatory effect of BP extract at the dose of 100 mg·kg−1 was 72.66%, whereas for BP-AuNPs it was noticed to be 91.93% at the dose of 10 mg·kg−1. Similarly, the extract of BP and prepared AuNPs demonstrated significant (p < 0.01) sedative effect at all tested doses. The BP-AuNPs catalytically reduced methyl orange dye. Results suggest that BP-AuNPs possess significant biological activities, and further studies must be conducted to identify the probable mechanism of action associated with these activities.