A new source of elemol rich essential oil and existence of multicellular oil glands in leaves of the Dioscorea species.

Dioscorea species is a very important food and drug plant. The tubers of the plant are extensively used in food and drug purposes owing to the presence of steroidal constituent's diosgenin in the tubers. In the present study, we report for the first time that the leaves of Dioscorea composita and Dioscorea floribunda grown under the field conditions exhibited the presence of multicellular oil glands on the epidermal layers of the plants using stereomicroscopy (SM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Essential oil was also isolated from the otherwise not useful herbage of the plant, and gas chromatographic-mass spectroscopy analysis revealed confirmation of the essential oil constituents. Out of the 76 compounds detected in D. floribunda and 37 from D. composita essential oil, major terpenoids which are detected and reported for Dioscorea leaf essential oil are α -terpinene, nerolidol, citronellyl acetate, farnesol, elemol, α -farnesene, valerenyl acetate, and so forth. Elemol was detected as the major constituent of both the Dioscorea species occupying 41% and 22% of D. Floribunda and D. composita essential oils, respectively. In this paper, we report for the first time Dioscorea as a possible novel bioresource for the essential oil besides its well-known importance for yielding diosgenin.

Histomorphological effects of the oil extract of Sphenocentrum jollyanum seed on benign prostatic hyperplasia induced by exogenous testosterone and estradiol in adult Wistar rats.

OBJECTIVE: Sphenocentrum jollyanum (SJ) seed has many health benefits due to its very potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Despite its widespread use, it has not been validated for use in the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This study was conducted to examine histomorphological effects of SJ seed on BPH that usually causes bladder outlet obstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: There were a total of six groups of animals each comprising 5 adult male rats. Apart from group 1 (normal control), in the remaining five groups, BPH was induced. Group 2 (negative control) was sacrificed immediately after BPH induction; groups 3 and 4 received the extract at 300 and 600 mg/kg respectively by gavages for thirty days; group 5 received finasteride (0.1 mg/kg) for thirty days and group 6 received the extract (600 mg/kg) simultaneously with the steroid administration for thirty days. The animals' were weighed before the experiment and subsequently every three days until the end of the study. RESULTS: The extract caused marked decrease in prostate weight of rats with BPH with histo-morphology of the tissue showing degenerated stromal and epithelial cells with few epithelial involutions of glandular tissue. Prostate specific antigen (PSA) level as well as testosterone level significantly (p<0.05) decreased in the treated groups compared to negative control. BPH animals treated with extract/finasteride exhibited remarkable increases in anti-oxidant enzymes level with concurrent decreases in peroxidative activity. CONCLUSION: SJ effectively ameliorated prostatic hyperplasia in BPH animals causing marked degenerative changes in prostate stromal and epithelial cells and also exhibited marked anti-oxidant effect.