Cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives, a novel class of antifungal agents.

The last few decades have seen an alarming rise in fungal infections, which currently represent a global health threat. Despite extensive research towards the development of new antifungal agents, only a limited number of antifungal drugs are available in the market. The routinely used polyene agents and many azole antifungals are associated with some common side effects such as severe hepatotoxicity and nephrotoxicity. Also, antifungal resistance continues to grow and evolve and complicate patient management, despite the introduction of new antifungal agents. This suitation requires continuous attention. Cinnamaldehyde has been reported to inhibit bacteria, yeasts, and filamentous molds via the inhibition of ATPases, cell wall biosynthesis, and alteration of membrane structure and integrity. In this regard, several novel cinnamaldehyde derivatives were synthesized with the claim of potential antifungal activities. The present article describes antifungal properties of cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives against diverse classes of pathogenic fungi. This review will provide an overview of what is currently known about the primary mode of action of cinnamaldehyde. Synergistic approaches for boosting the effectiveness of cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives have been highlighted. Also, a keen analysis of the pharmacologically active systems derived from cinnamaldehyde has been discussed. Finally, efforts were made to outline the future perspectives of cinnamaldehyde-based antifungal agents. The purpose of this review is to provide an overview of current knowledge about the antifungal properties and antifungal mode of action of cinnamaldehyde and its derivatives and to identify research avenues that can facilitate implementation of cinnamaldehyde as a natural antifungal.

Sensitive and rapid determination of elemental nanosulfur/sulfur by liquid chromatography.

In order to identify the most suitable method for the estimation of nanosulfur for studying its residue dynamics, the present work was taken up. HPLC and GC methods were explored for its analysis. A comparative study of the existing analytical methods for the quality control of nanosulfur was undertaken. UV spectrophotometry and HPLC methods were superior with lower LOD when compared to GC-MS, which was not satisfactory due to breakage of catenated S20 into S6 and S8 . The method has been validated by analyzing various nanosulfur formulations of known concentrations. The recovery of the UV and HPLC methods ranged from 80.71 to 109.51% and 82.31 to 109.84%, respectively. The LOD of UV, GC-MS, and HPLC is 4, 20, and 1 ppm, respectively. The retention time of sulfur was 13.77 (HPLC), 2.89 (ultra high performance liquid chromatography), and 12.715 + 21.524 min (GC-MS). The method was successfully utilized for estimating sulfur in natural samples such as water from a sulfur hot spring and wastewater. The method has been validated by following the method recommended by the American Society for Testing and Materials. The HPLC method emerged as the best analytical method for the estimation of elemental sulfur.