Review - Ricinus cmmunis - Ethnomedicinal uses and pharmacological activities.

Ricinus cmmunis L. (Castor oil plant) is an important medicinal plant belonging to family Euphorbiaceae. Its phytochemistry, biological and pharmacological activities, and ethnomedicinal uses have been reviewed in the present study. The reported chemical constituents showed the presence of flavonoids, phenolic compounds, fatty acids, amino acids, terpenoids, phytosterol etc. The compounds have been reported to exhibit anticonceptive, antidiabetic, antifertility, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, insecticidal and wound-healing activities. They also showed free radical scavenging and Hg scavenging activities, and repellent properties. Various parts of R. communis have been widely used in traditional medicine such as abdominal disorders, arthritis, backache, muscle aches, bilharziasis, chronic backache and sciatica, chronic headache, constipation, expulsion of placenta, gallbladder pain, period pain, menstrual cramps, rheumatism, sleeplessness, and insomnia. Castor oil plant has also revealed toxic effects due to the presence of ricin (protein) and ricinine (alkaloid). Comparatively, ricin is more toxic. But still there is need of more research to be conducted with reference to its medicinal importance (particularly exploring of medicinal recipes) and active compounds responsible for various activities.

Antimicrobial potentials of Mentha longifolia by disc diffusion method.

This study was conducted for the assessment of the antimicrobial activities of different solvents extracted samples from the aerial parts of Mentha longifolia against ten microbial species through the disc diffusion assay using two different concentrations of 1 and 2 mg disc1. All extracts from Mentha longifolia showed different ranges of antimicrobial activities. Butanol and ethyl acetate fractions showed inhibitory activities against all microbial species. Methanol fraction showed inhibitory effects against all the tested microbial species except Salmonella typhi. Salmonella typhi was also not controlled by methanol, petroleum ether and dichloromethane extracted samples. The most susceptible gram positive bacteria was Bacillus atropheus and Bacillus subtilis and were inhibited by all extracts and Staphylococus aureus was least susceptible among gram positive bacteria. Klebsiella pneumoniae was the most susceptible gram negative bacterium and Salmonella typhi was highly resistant among the gram negative bacteria. Erwinia carotovora and Agrobacterium tumefaciene were susceptible to all fractions. All fractions showed antifungal activities against Candida albicans except water extracted samples.