Comparative genetic analysis of trichome-less and normal pod genotypes of Mucuna pruriens (Fabaceae).

Velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) seeds contain the catecholic amino acid L-DoPA (L-3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine), which is a neurotransmitter precursor and used for the treatment of Parkinson's disease and mental disorders. The great demand for L-DoPA is largely met by the pharmaceutical industry through extraction of the compound from wild populations of this plant; commercial exploitation of this compound is hampered because of its limited availability. The trichomes present on the pods can cause severe itching, blisters and dermatitis, discouraging cultivation. We screened genetic stocks of velvet bean for the trichome-less trait, along with high seed yield and L-DoPA content. The highest yielding trichome-less elite strain was selected and indentified on the basis of a PCR-based DNA fingerprinting method (RAPD), using deca-nucleotide primers. A genetic similarity index matrix was obtained through multivariant analysis using Nei and Li's coefficient. The similarity coefficients were used to generate a tree for cluster analysis using the UPGMA method. Analysis of amplification spectra of 408 bands obtained with 56 primers allowed us to distinguish a trichome-less elite strain of M. pruriens.

AFLP markers for identification of Swertia species (Gentianaceae).

The genus Swertia is well known for its medicinal properties, as described in the Indian pharmacopoeia. Different members of this genus, although somewhat similar in morphology, differ widely in their pharmacological and therapeutic properties. The most important species of this genus, with maximal therapeutic properties, is S. chirayita, which is often adulterated with other less-potent Swertia spp. There is an existing demand in the herbal drug industry for an authentication system for Swertia spp, in order to enable their commercial use as genuine phytoceuticals. To this end, we used amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) to produce DNA fingerprints for six Swertia species. Nineteen accessions (2 of S. chirayita, 3 of S. angustifolia, 2 of S. bimaculata, 5 of S. ciliata, 5 of S. cordata, and 2 of S. alata) were used in the study, which employed 64 AFLP selective primer pairs. Only 46 selective primer pairs were found to be useful for all the accessions. A total of 5312 fragments were produced by these 46 primer pairs. Species-specific markers were identified for all six Swertia species (131 for S. chirayita, 19 for S. angustifolia, 181 for S. bimaculata, 47 for S. ciliata, 94 for S. cordata, and 272 for S. alata). These AFLP fingerprints of the Swertia species could be used to authenticate drugs made with Swertia spp and to resolve adulteration-related problems faced by the commercial users of these herbs.

Endophytic bacteria from Ocimum sanctum and their yield enhancing capabilities.

Endophytes are beneficial microbes that reside intercellularly inside the plants. Interaction of endophytes with the host plants and their function within their host are important to address ecological relevance of endophyte. Four endophytic bacteria OS-9, OS-10, OS-11, and OS-12 were isolated from healthy leaves of Ocimum sanctum. These isolated microbes were screened in dual culture against various phytopathogenic fungi viz. Rhizoctonia solani, Sclerotium rolfsii, Fusarium solani, Alternaria solani, and Colletotrichum lindemuthianum. Of these, strain OS-9 was found to be antagonistic to R. solani, A. solani, F. solani, and C. lindemuthianum while OS-11 was found antagonistic against A. solani only. The growth-promoting benefits of the endophytes were initially evaluated in the glasshouse by inoculated seeds of O. sanctum. Treatment with endophytes OS-10 and OS-11 resulted in significant enhancement of growth as revealed by increase in fresh as well as dry weight. Further, field trials involving two genotypes OS Purple and CIM-Angana were conducted with strains OS-10 and OS-11. The growth-promoting effect was visible on both the genotypes tested as the endophytes significantly enhanced fresh herbage yield (t/ha). Interestingly, these endophytes increased the content of essential oil particularly in cultivar OS Purple and thereby increasing the total oil yields. Molecular characterization of strain OS-11 indicated the strain to be highly related to the type strain of Bacillus subtilis.

In vitro propagation of Rauwolfia serpentina using liquid medium, assessment of genetic fidelity of micropropagated plants, and simultaneous quantitation of reserpine, ajmaline, and ajmalicine.

Rauwolfia serpentina holds an important position in the pharmaceutical world because of its immense anti-hypertensive properties resulting from the presence of reserpine in the oleoresin fraction of the roots. Poor seed viability, low seed germination rate, and enormous genetic variability are the major constraints for the commercial cultivation of R. serpentina through conventional mode. The present optimized protocol offers an impeccable end to end method from the establishment of aseptic cultures to in-vitro plantlet production employing semisolid as well liquid nutrient culture medium and assessment of their genetic fidelity using polymerase chain reaction based rapid amplification of polymorphic DNA analysis. In vitro shoots multiplied on Murashige and Skoog basal liquid nutrients supplemented with benzo[a]pyrene (1.0 mg/L) and NAA (0.1 mg/L) and in-vitro rhizogenesis was observed in modified MS basal nutrient containing NAA (1.0 mg/L) and 2% sucrose. In-vitro raised plants exhibited 90-95% survival under glass house/field condition and 85% similarity in the plants regenerated through this protocol. Field established plants were harvested and extraction of indole alkaloid particularly reserpine, ajmaline and ajmalicine and their simultaneous quantitation was performed using monolithic reverse phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC).

Toxic effects of oral administration of extracts of dried calyx of Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn. (Malvaceae).

The effects of a 90-day oral administration of water and alcohol extracts of dried calyx of Hibiscus sabdariffa were evaluated in albino rats. Haematological, biochemical and histopathological changes were monitored every 30 days.The death of the animals was preceded by a severe loss in weight, accompanied with diarrhoea in animals on the 2000 mg/kg dose. There was an increase in food intake (g) per kg body weight per day in the aqueous (A) and ethanol (E) 300 mg/kg extract groups. Significant reductions in the erythrocyte count with no difference in total leucocyte count were observed. The activity of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was enhanced by the administration of aqueous and 50% ethanol extract with a significant increase in its level at higher doses (p < 0.05). Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and creatinine levels were significantly affected by all the extracts at the different dose levels. However, aqueous extracts exhibited a significant increase in creatinine levels (p < 0.05) at higher doses. The cholesterol levels were generally not significantly affected by the extracts. No significant histopathological changes were observed, although there was a significant reduction in the weight of the spleen of the animals administered with ethanol and water extracts when compared with the control (p < 0.01). Other organs were of the same relative weight.

Modulation of inflammatory mediators by coumarinolignoids from Cleome viscosa in female swiss albino mice.

The effect of coumarinolignoid cleomiscosins A, B and C isolated from the plant Cleome viscosa on inflammatory mediators were studied in female swiss albino mice. A mixture of coumarinolignoid A, B, and C at 10, 30 and 100 mg/kg body weight once a day for 14 consecutive days were administered orally to the mice. Pro-inflammatory mediators such as IL-6, TNF-alpha and nitric oxide were estimated from culture supernatant obtained from peritoneal macrophages stimulated by LPS and anti-inflammatory mediator IL-4 was estimated from culture supernatant obtained from spleenocytes stimulated by Con-A. For further confirmation, expressions of inflammatory mediators from serum and mortality rate were studied in LPS-induced toxicity model in mice. The expression of Pro-inflammatory mediators was significantly (P <0.05) decreased in coumarinolignoids treatment group in dose dependent manner, whereas the anti-inflammatory mediator expression was significantly increased in coumarinolignoids at 10 mg/kg treatment. Mortality rate was also significantly reduced in treatment group in LPS-induced toxicity model. The result of this study concluded that the oral administration of coumarinolignoids inhibited the pro-inflammatory mediators and enhances the production of anti-inflammatory mediator in dose dependent manner.

Anxiolytic and sedative effects of extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa Linn (family Malvaceae).

Aqueous (A), hydroalcoholic (AE) and ethanolic (E) extracts and fractions of dried calyxes of Hibiscus sabdariffa were evaluated for anxiolytic property using elevated-plus maze (EPM), and sedative properties using ketamine-induced sleep in animal models. The extracts exhibited a dose-dependent increase in the time spent in the open arm with ethanol extracts having the best anxiolytic activity. The extracts at A 5 mg/kg, AE 5 mg/kg and A 50 mg/kg did not cause an increase in time spent in the open arms (p < 0.05) but other doses significantly did when compared with the vehicle control. The fractions of the hydroalcoholic extracts showed no significant anxiolytic activity. Neither the extracts nor the fractions significantly reduced or increased latency to sleep after a single dose except AE 300 (p < 0.01). There was significant reduction in onset of sleep, and increase in sleeping time with A and AE extracts with multiple doses at A 300, AE 50 and AE 300 mg/kg dose groups (p < 0.001, p < 0.01 and p < 0.05 respectively). A reduction in sleeping time after several daily doses of ethanol extracts doses was observed. A single dose of one of the fractions (EAC at 50 mg/kg) caused a significant reduction (p < 0.05) in sleep duration. The study showed that extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa possess anxiolytic and sedative effects which become more pronounced with administration of repeated doses of the extracts.

Gallic acid-based indanone derivatives as anticancer agents.

Gallic acid-based indanone derivatives have been synthesised. Some of the indanones showed very good anticancer activity in MTT assay. Compounds 10, 11, 12 and 14 possessed potent anticancer activity against various human cancer cell lines. The most potent indanone (10, IC(50)=2.2 microM), against MCF-7, that is, hormone-dependent breast cancer cell line, showed no toxicity to human erythrocytes even at higher concentrations (100 microg/ml, 258 microM). While, indanones 11, 12 and 14 showed toxicities to erythrocytes at higher concentrations.

Immunomodulatory effect of extracts of Hibiscus sabdariffa L. (Family Malvaceae) in a mouse model.

The immunomodulatory activity of water and alcohol extracts (including its fractions) of the dried calyx of the plant was evaluated in mice. The ability of the extracts to inhibit or enhance the production of two cytokines, namely tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF- alpha) and interleukin-10 (IL-10), respectively, implicated as proinflammatory and antiinflammatory interleukins were also evaluated. The extracts at doses of 50 mg/kg were found to possess higher immunostimulatory activities in comparison with levamisole (positive control), with significant effects when compared with the vehicle-treated group (p < 0.01). Increased activity was observed with increase in doses of the 50% ethanol and absolute ethanol extracts. The insoluble fraction exhibited a significant dose-dependent immunostimulatory activity (p < 0.05), while the residual water-soluble fraction exhibited activity at 100 mg/kg body weight. The production of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), was low in all the extract groups tested, while the production of interleukin 10 (IL-10) was high compared with the control. The production of IL-10 was high in 300 mg/kg aqueous extract. The insoluble fraction exhibited a profound dose-dependent immunostimulatory activity higher than the positive control at 100 mg/kg. This study established the immunoenhancing properties of the extracts of this plant confirming that the immunomodulatory activity is cell mediated and humoral. The insoluble fraction could find use as an immunostimulatory agent in humans.

Recent advances in plant hepatoprotectives: a chemical and biological profile of some important leads.

Medicinal plants have been traditionally used for treating liver diseases since centuries. Several leads from plant sources have been found as potential hepatoprotective agents with diverse chemical structures. Although, a big list of hepatoprotective phytomolecules was reported in the scientific literature, only a few were potent against various types of liver damages. Of which, silymarin, andrographolide, neoandrographolide, curcumin, picroside, kutkoside, phyllanthin, hypophyllanthin, and glycyrrhizin have largely attracted the scientific community. This review focuses discussion on the chemistry, biological activity, mode of action, toxicity, and future prospects of these leads.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus: phylogenetic motifs for predicting protein functional sites.

Diabetes mellitus, commonly referred to as diabetes, is a medical condition associated with abnormally high levels of glucose (or sugar) in the blood. Keeping this view, we demonstrate the phylogenetic motifs (PMs) identification in type 2 diabetes mellitus very likely corresponding to protein functional sites. In this article, we have identified PMs for all the candidate genes for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Glycine 310 remains conserved for glucokinase and potassium channel KCNJ11. Isoleucine 137 was conserved for insulin receptor and regulatory subunit of a phosphorylating enzyme. Whereas residues valine, leucine, methionine were highly conserved for insulin receptor. Occurrence of proline was very high for calpain 10 gene and glucose transporter.

Low molecular weight proteins of outer membrane of Salmonella typhimurium are immunogenic in Salmonella induced reactive arthritis revealed by proteomics.

In patients with reactive arthritis (ReA)/undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (uSpA), synovial fluid mononuclear cells (SFMC) show proliferation to bacterial antigens that trigger ReA, i.e. Chlamydia, Yersinia, Campylobactor, Shigella and Salmonella species. We have shown previously that SFMC proliferate significantly to outer membrane proteins of S typhimurium in Salmonella induced ReA. In the present study we characterized the immunoreactive fractions of outer membrane protein (Omp) of S typhimurium in Salmonella induced ReA. Omp of Salmonella was isolated and fractionated by continuous elution sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) using Prep-Cell into eight Omp fractions based on molecular weight. Twenty-three patients with ReA were screened for the bacterial trigger using the SFMC proliferative response to crude lysates of Y enterocolitica, S flexneri, C jejuni and S typhimurium using thymidine uptake assay. SFMC from patients with salmonella induced ReA were tested against eight fractions. Seven of 23 patients with ReA had S typhimurium-induced ReA. Of these seven patients, five patients SFMC had a significant stimulation index (SI) against < 22, 22-26, 25-35 and 28-40 kDa fractions of Omp. These fractions were analysed by SDS-PAGE and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry, which revealed 10 proteins. These proteins were 37 kDa OmpA, 33 kDa TsX, 28 kDa putative Omp, 28 kDa Vac J, 39 kDa OmpD, 18 kDa OmpX, 23 kDa OmpW, 43 kDa OmpS1 and 19 kDa peptidoglycan-associated lipoprotein. In conclusion, for the first time we have identified some low molecular weight proteins in the Omps of Salmonella which are T cells immunoreactive in patients with salmonella induced ReA/uSpA.

Synthesis of gallic acid based naphthophenone fatty acid amides as cathepsin D inhibitors.

Gallic acid, one of the most abundant plant phenolic acids, has been modified to cathepsin D protease inhibitors. The strategy of modification was proposed basing on some previously reported structure and activity relationship (SAR) studies. The synthesized naphthophenone fatty acid amide derivatives have been evaluated for in vitro cathepsin D inhibition activity. Two of them have shown significant inhibition activity with IC(50) values of 0.06 and 0.14 microM, respectively, as compared against pepstatin (0.0023 microM), the most potent inhibitor known so far. The study revealed that such attempts on gallic acid based pharmacophores might result in potent inhibitors of cathepsin D.

Synthesis of 1-(3',4',5'-trimethoxy) phenyl naphtho[2,1b]furan as a novel anticancer agent.

3',4',5'-Trimethoxy benzoyl-naphthalene 2-O-acetic acid (5) underwent base catalysed intramolecular condensation to yield exclusively 1-(3',4',5'-trimethoxy) phenyl naphtho[2,1-b]furan 8. The cyclised product 8 has been characterised by spectroscopy. The product 8 showed significant anticancer activity against human cancer cell lines COLO320DM (colon), CaCO2 (colon) and WRL68 (liver) at 0.7, 0.65 and 0.50 microg/ml concentrations, respectively, in the in vitro MTT assay.

First Report of a 16SrVI Group Phytoplasma Associated with Witches'-Broom Disease on Withania somnifera.

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal is cultivated in India as an important medicinal cash crop. The whole plant is of great importance in the Indian system of medicine and pharmaceutical industries, but the roots are the main source of active alkaloids. Some of the important alkaloids are tro-pine, pseudotropine, somniferine, colin, withaferin A, withanoides, and a few flavanoides. Typical disease symptoms include phyllody, little leaf, dense clusters of highly proliferating branches with shortened internodes, and resulting witches'-broom. The disease was first observed in and around Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Province, India during January and February 1992. On the basis of symptoms, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and antibiotic treatment, the causal organism was identified as a phytoplasma (4). The disease is now spreading to other parts of the country (Gujrat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, and Rajasthan provinces) with a high disease incidence (70%). In this report, molecular characterization and taxonomic position of the associated phytoplasma is reported. Total genomic DNA was extracted from healthy and infected plants with a modified cetyltrimethylammoniumbromide (CTAB) buffer method. The samples were assayed for the presence of phytoplasma using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with universal phytoplasma primers P1/P6 (2) for amplification of ribosomal 16S rDNA. PCR product was diluted by 1:200 and used directly as DNA template for nested PCR with primers R16F2n and R16R2 (1). Results showed the presence of an expected 1.5-kb rDNA fragment amplified with the direct PCR and a 1.2-kb product of the nested PCR from infected W. somnifera samples. No PCR product was observed in the healthy counterparts. The PCR assay confirmed the presence of phytoplasma as causal agent. The PCR product was cloned with TOPO TA cloning kit (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) and isolated plasmids were again assessed by restriction enzyme (EcoRI) digestion before sequencing. Purified plasmids were sequenced. Partially sequenced nucleotide sequence analysis of 16SrRNA gene cloned from W. somnifera phytoplasma showed high similarity with several isolates of the 16SrVI group of phytoplasmas. The highest nucleotide matching (99 and 98%) was observed with Centaurea solstitialis virescence phytoplasma (Genbank Accession No. AY270156) and Periwinkle little leaf phytoplasma (PPL-Bd; Genbank Accession No. AF 228053) reported in Italy and Bangladesh, respectively. In restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis, AluI, EcoRI, HhaI, HincII, KpnI, and Sau3AI (Promega, Madison, WI; 5 U per reaction) were used for comparison of restriction pattern of present/reference phytoplasma and with that previously reported (3). The present phytoplasma produced identical restriction profile to those of periwinkle infected by PPL-Bd (periwinkle little leaf phytoplasma, Bangladesh, group 16SrVI). On the basis of PCR studies, absence of virus particles under TEM in infected samples, RFLP analysis and nucleotide sequence matching with previously characterized phytoplasma, this phyto-plasma is classified as a member of Clover proliferation group (16SrVI). To our knowledge, this is the first report of a phytoplasma belonging to 16Sr VI group from W. somnifera. References: (1) S. Deng and C. Hiruki. J. Microbiol. Methods 14:53, 1991. (2) D. E. Gundersen and I.-M. Lee. Phytopathol. Mediterr.35:144, 1996. (3) I.-M. Lee et al. Int. J. Syst. Bacteriol. 48:1153, 1998. (4) M. Zaim and A. Samad. Plant Sci. 109:225,1995.

Simultaneous determination of vincristine, vinblastine, catharanthine, and vindoline in leaves of catharanthus roseus by high-performance liquid chromatography.

A simple reversed-phase liquid chromatographic method is developed for the simultaneous quantitation of the anticancerous drugs vincristine, vinblastine, and their precursors catharanthine and vindoline using a Merck Chromolith Performance reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography column. A better resolution is obtained in comparison with available particulate-type C18 columns. The column provides good reproducibility and peak symmetry. Chromatography is carried isocratically with a mobile phase of acetonitrile-0.1M phosphate buffer containing 0.5% glacial acetic acid (21:79, v/v; pH 3.5) at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min and UV detection at 254 nm. Parameters such as linearity, limits of quantitation (LOQ) and detection (LOD), precision, accuracy, recovery, and robustness are studied. The method is selective and linear for alkaloid concentration in the range 0.25 microg-25 microg/mL. The LOQ and LOD are 25, 46, 56, and 32 microg/mL and 8, 14, 18, and 10 microg/mL, respectively. The results of accuracy studies are good. Values for coefficient of variation are 2.50, 1.82, 1.33, and 1.13, respectively. The percent recovery of the alkaloids was found to be 96%, 97%, 98%, and 98%, respectively. Peak purity and homogeneity of these compounds in plant extract is studied using a photodiode-array detector. This simple and rapid method of analysis is applied for the determination of these alkaloids in a large number of leaf extracts of Catharanthus roseus..

Use of RAPD and AFLP markers to identify inter- and intraspecific hybrids of Mentha.

Three controlled crosses were carried out involving Mentha arvensis and Mentha spicata [M. spicata CIMAP/C30 x M. spicata CIMAP/C33 (cv. Neera); M. arvensis CIMAP/C18 x CIMAP/C17 (cv. Kalka); and M. arvensis CIMAP/C17 x M. spicata CIMAP/C33]. The parents were subjected to random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) analysis with 80 primers, and polymorphic primers were tested for detecting coinherited RAPD profiles among the progeny of these crosses. Of 50 seedlings tested from each intraspecific cross, all demonstrated dominant profiles with the selected RAPD primers except the detected hybrid from respective crosses. Coinherited markers could be detected with the primers OPJ 01, MAP 06, OPT 08, and OPO 20 for M. arvensis; OPJ 05, OPJ 14, OPO 19, and OPT 09 for M. spicata; and OPJ 07, OPJ 10, OPJ 11, OPJ 14, and OPO 02 for the cross M. arvensis x M. spicata. In our amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis, 40 coinherited marker fragments were identified for the cross involving M. arvensis, 32 for the cross involving M. spicata, and 41 for the interspecific cross between M. arvensis and M. spicata. In all crosses, similarity values between the parents were less than those between the parents and the hybrids. Although RAPD markers are generally considered dominant, it is possible to identify a few codominant markers that behave like restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) markers. This molecular marker system may be helpful in rapidly screening out hybrids in crops where cross-pollination is a problem.

Insecticidal, repellent and oviposition-deterrent activity of selected essential oils against Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus.

Essential oils extracted from 10 medicinal plants were evaluated for larvicidal, adulticidal, ovicidal, oviposition-deterrent and repellent activities towards three mosquito species; Anopheles stephensi, Aedes aegypti and Culex quinquefasciatus. The essential oils of Juniperus macropoda and Pimpinella anisum were highly effective as both larvicidal and ovicidal. The essential oil of P. anisum showed toxicity against 4th instar larvae of A. stephensi and A. aegypti with equivalent LD95 values of 115.7 microg/ml, whereas it was 149.7 microg/ml against C. quinquefasciatus larvae. Essential oils of Zingiber officinale and Rosmarinus officinalis were found to be ovicidal and repellent, respectively towards the three mosquito species. The essential oil of Cinnamomum zeylanicum resulted into highest repellent (RD95) values of 49.6, 53.9 and 44.2 mg/mat against A. stephensi, A. aegypti and C. quinquefasciatus, respectively apart from oviposition-deterrent potential.

Bile acid amides derived from chiral amino alcohols: novel antimicrobials and antifungals.

Cholic and deoxycholic acid amides 10-17 have been synthesised from (1R,2R)-1-phenyl-2-amino-1,3-propanediol 2, (1S,2S)-1-phenyl-2-amino-1,3-propanediol 4, (1R,2R)-1-para-nitrophenyl-2-amino-1,3-propanediol 3, (1S,2S)-1-para-nitrophenyl-2-amino-1,3-propanediol 5. Amide 12 derived from N-succinimidyl ester 9 of deoxycholic acid and (1R,2R)-1-phenyl-2-amino-1,3-propanediol 2, found to be active against Cryptococcus neoformans and the amide 17 obtained from N-succinimidyl ester 9 of deoxycholic acid and (1S,2S)-1-para-nitrophenyl-2-amino-1,3-propanediol 5, is found to be potent against various gram-positive bacteria.

Bioactivities of the leaf essential oil of Curcuma longa (var. ch-66) on three species of stored-product beetles (Coleoptera).

Essential oil extracted from the leaves of turmeric, Curcuma longa L., was investigated for contact and fumigant toxicity and its effect on progeny production in three stored-product beetles, Rhyzopertha dominica F. (lesser grain borer), Sitophilus oryzae L. (rice weevil), and Tribolium castaneum Herbst (red flour beetle). Oviposition-deterrent and ovicidal actions of C. longa leaf oil were also evaluated against T. castaneum. The oil was insecticidal in both contact and fumigant toxicity assays. The adults of R. dominica were highly susceptible to contact action of C. longa leaf oil, with LD50 value of 36.71 microg/mg weight of insect, whereas in the fumigant assay, adults of S. oryzae were highly susceptible with LC50 value of 11.36 mg/liter air. Further, in T. castaneum, the C. longa oil reduced oviposition and egg hatching by 72 and 80%, respectively at the concentration of 5.2 mg/cm2. At the concentration of 40.5 mg/g food, the oil totally suppressed progeny production of all the three test insects. Nutritional indices indicate >81% antifeedant action of the oil against R. dominica, S. oryzae and T castaneum at the highest concentration tested.