Mini-review on the phyto-chemistry, pharmacology and toxicology of Cola nitida (Vent.) Schott & Endl. (Malvaceae): A medically interesting bio-resource of multiple purposes in Africa

The purpose of this mini-review was to summarize and update knowledge on the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicity of <i>Cola nitida</i>, with the view of providing baseline data for herbal drug formulation. In January 2021, a non-exhaustive online search of relevant articles was carried out on the phytochemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of <i>C. nitida</i> from scientifically well-established databases such as Science Direct, PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, and SciELO. The plant's scientific name as well as phytochemistry, pharmacology, pharmacognosy, bioactivity and toxicology were used as keywords. The chemical structures of the compounds isolated from this plant were drawn using ChemBioDraw Ultra 12.0 software. A literature survey has revealed that <i>C. nitida</i> is highly appreciated by African populations in various cultures, especially in West Africa. Phytochemical analyses showed that <i>C. nitida</i> contains interesting compounds like catechin, caffeine, epicatechin, polyphenols, alkaloids, tannins, saponins, bromelain, cardenolides, proanthocyanidins, triterpenes, glycosides, flavonoids, anthraquinones, steroids, anthocyanins, glycosides, alkaloids, etc. The presence of these phyto-compounds in the investigated plant species justifies its used as an antimicrobial, anti-malarial, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, anti-coagulant agent. Thus, <i>C. nitida</i> could be used as a raw material for manufacturing efficient medication against various diseases, including sickle cell disease.

Documentation of medicinal plants used by the traditional healers, mayannur forest, thrissur district, kerala, india

The study was carried out to document the medicinal plants used by the traditional healers in Mayannur Forest, Thrissur District, Kerala, India. In the present study, 107 plant species belonging to 46 families were documented in the Mayannur forest, Kerala. The informants of an age group ranging from 50-80 were selected for collecting data of the plants in the forest. The medicinal plants such as herbs (36%), shrub (19%), trees (27%) and climbers (18%) were mainly used by traditional healers for the treatment of fever, wound healing, skin diseases and menstrual problems. Saraca asoca was mainly in the traditional medicines to cure diseases and for treating menstrual problems. Medicinal plants used by the traditional healers were documented along with their scientific name, common name and medicinal uses. The present study shows that, the plant material mainly used was leaves for the treatment of diseases. Among the 107 plant species Rare Endangered Threatened (RET) plant species were also documented. Documentation of knowledge and conservation of the endangered plants helped for the sustainable development.

Study of Homogeneous Chipboard Manufacturing u sing Betung Bamboo (Dendrocalamus Asper) Mixed with Polyethylene Addictive

Bamboo is an evergreen plant native to Asia and America that grows at every altitude, even in unideal climate conditions. Betung bamboo or its scientific name Dendrocalamus Asper is one of the bamboo species that are easily found in peninsular Malaysia. This study examined the characteristics of Betung bamboo and its potential to manufacture chipboard. Several tests were conducted, namely modulus of elastic (MOE), modulus of rupture (MOR), thickness swelling (TS), and water absorption (WA) to evaluate the potential of Betung bamboo as the primary material in the manufacture of chipboard mixed with polyethylene as additive are the parameters considered. This study found that the composition of 70% bamboo and 30% polyethylene was produced optimum chipboard which met BS EN standards (British and European Standard). It was also found that the MOE and MOR values of the resulting chipboard exceeded the medium density board standards. For WA and TS values, the chipboard achieved the standard requirements. Thus, this study concludes that chipboard made of Betung bamboo with the addition of polyethylene is suitable to be applied for internal and external doors, and internal paneling for any commercial or domestic building and furniture.

Distribution characteristics of endemic and rare plants along the altitudinal gradient in Bat Xat nature reserve in Vietnam

This study aimed to assess the relationship between distribution, altitude and investigation lines of vascular plants in Bat Xat Nature Reserve, Lao Cai province. Based on the collected specimens added 273 species of vascular plants belonging to 48 genera, 18 families, bringing the total number the currently known species are 1245 species of vascular plants belonging to 649 genera, 174 families and under 6 divisions such as. Of these, and there are 211 endemic and rare species consists have been recorded and 22 rare species 17 endemic species and updated scientific name 14 species added checklist to the Nature Reserve. Topographic, vegetation and distribution maps, changes in diversity and a checklist of endemic and rare species are shown.

An annotated catalogue of bird lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera) from Chile

The species and subspecies of chewing lice (Insecta: Phthiraptera: Amblycera, Ischnocera) parasitic on Chilean birds are listed and annotated, based on records published until October 2021 and from our examination of collections. The current scientific name, its taxonomic history, data on type material, type host, other hosts, geographic distribution within Chile and elsewhere, Chilean literature references and other significant references are given for each species or subspecies of lice. A total of four families, 76 genera, and 245 species and subspecies of lice are listed, including 17 species recorded as genus only, and 31 new records of species. A host-louse list—including a total of 155 bird species (146 native and nine introduced by human agency) belonging to 19 orders, 43 families and 107 genera—is also given.

Morphology and Economic Value of Macadamia (Macadamia integrifolia Maiden and Betche)

Macadamia has a scientific name Macadamia integrifolia Maiden and Betche from the Proteaceae family. The Macadamia plant habitat is in highland areas with an altitude of 1000 masl with a temperature of ≤ 32˚C. Macadamia plants are perennials with tough stems, and the branching is visible (monopodial). The purpose of this study was to determine the morphological characteristics of Macadamia plants and their economic value. The research was conducted at PTPN XII Sempol Plantation, Bondowoso with descriptive-qualitative method. The results of morphological observations showed that macadamia fruit is a dry fruit, indehiscent (when ripe the skin/shell does not break), similar to the type of achene fruit but the shell is thick and hard. Woody stems (lignosus) with monopodial branching type, incomplete leaves consisting of stalks and leaf blades, leaf blades are oblong-elongated, incised independently, pinnate leaf bones, phyllotaxis opposite crosswise. Macadamia trees can produce round fruit of about 20-70 kg per year with a monthly profit of Rp. 8,905,500. The economic potential of the Macadamia plant is very promising, as evidenced by the ongoing import of peeled macadamia with a volume of 6,862 kilograms worth US$ 145,100 (approximately Rp 1.9 billion) or Rp 291,405.29 per kilogram.

Potential of medicinal plants for internal diseases in the dayak jangkang community, sanggau regency, west kalimantan, indonesia

Dayak Jangkang people’s knowledge about the potential use of plants as medicine to cure internal diseases has not been found in the scientific literature. This research aims to record the types of plants (local name, scientific name, family), plant organs used, processing methods, specifications of plant benefits used by Dayak Jangkang people to treat internal diseases. The research approach used is qualitative descriptive. The data collection tool used is a semi-structured interview sheet. The informant who helped the research process was as many as ten people. Informant was determined using purposive sampling techniques. The data is analyzed descriptively based on interviews and literature studies. The results of the study were obtained as many as 34 types of plants that were used by the Dayak Jangkang tribe to treat internal diseases. The number of families used as many as 19, with the most families being Zingiberaceae.

The flora of south-eastern Mato Grosso State (Brazil): a review of herbarium collections

The diversity and richness of the Brazilian flora are documented in herbarium collections. When areas are deforested, but not documented, we lose both flora and the opportunity to know which species occupied those areas. The south-eastern mesoregion of Mato Grosso State, comprising 22 municipalities, has undergone the loss of native vegetation cover, accelerated by the substantial expansion of agribusiness. For an in-depth look at the consequences and the current state of the flora in that mesoregion, we consulted both speciesLink and JABOT databases. More specifically, we carried out a comprehensive study of herbarium collections by municipality and compiled data including scientific name, collection date, collection locality, collector name and observations made during collection. We obtained 5,861 records of angiosperms, ferns and lycophytes of 160 families, 770 genera and 1,792 species. The specimens are deposited in 80 herbaria of which the Herbarium of Universidade Federal de Mato Grosso (UFMT) hosts the largest collection. Rondonópolis was the most sampled municipality, whereas 50% of the municipalities were poorly sampled and one showed no collection records at all. Amongst the species occurring only in Mato Grosso, eleven were collected only in that mesoregion and twenty species were under some degree of threat. Our study recommends increasing collection and identification efforts to enable effective conservation actions and improve richness estimates for the State of Mato Grosso and the Cerrado, in general, before more of the flora is lost to deforestation.

Molecular species delimitation refines the taxonomy of native and nonnative physinine snails in North America

Being able to associate an organism with a scientific name is fundamental to our understanding of its conservation status, ecology, and evolutionary history. Gastropods in the subfamily Physinae have been especially troublesome to identify because morphological variation can be unrelated to interspecific differences and there have been widespread introductions of an unknown number of species, which has led to a speculative taxonomy. To resolve uncertainty about species diversity in North America, we targeted an array of single-locus species delimitation methods at publically available specimens and new specimens collected from the Snake River basin, USA to generate species hypotheses, corroborated using nuclear analyses of the newly collected specimens. A total-evidence approach delineated 18 candidate species, revealing cryptic diversity within recognized taxa and a lack of support for other named taxa. Hypotheses regarding certain local endemics were confirmed, as were widespread introductions, including of an undescribed taxon likely belonging to a separate genus in southeastern Idaho for which the closest relatives are in southeast Asia. Overall, single-locus species delimitation was an effective first step toward understanding the diversity and distribution of species in Physinae and to guiding future investigation sampling and analyses of species hypotheses.