RESUMO
BACKGROUND: The rhizomes of Acorus calamus and their essential oil are widely used in the flavoring industry and production of alcoholic beverages in Europe. Recent reports have confirmed the presence of several pharmacological components in the rhizomes of A. calamus. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to find out the efficacy of topical administration of ethanolic extract of A. calamus on dermal wound healing in rats. Wound healing is a natural process occurring in living organisms, which results in a complete or partial remodeling of injured tissue and ultimately progresses to the formation of a fibrous scar. Several natural products have been reported to augment the wound healing process. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An ethanolic extract of A. calamus was prepared and its wound-healing efficacy was studied. An excision wound was made on the back of the rat and 200 µL (40 mg/kg body weight) of the A. calamus extract was applied topically once daily for the treated wounds. The control wounds were treated with 200 µL of phosphate buffered saline. RESULTS: The granulation tissues formed were removed at 4, 8 and 12 days and biochemical parameters such as deoxyribonucleic acid, total protein, total collagen, hexosamine and uronic acids were measured. The amount of type I/III collagen formed in control and treated wound tissues was evaluated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The epithelialization time, tensile strength and histological examination of the wounds were also studied. Biochemical analyses of the granulation tissues revealed a significant increase in collagen, hexosamine and uronic acid when compared with the control. The tensile strength of extract treated wounds was found to increase by 112%. A significant reduction in lipid peroxide levels suggested that A. calamus possesses antioxidant components. CONCLUSIONS: The results strongly confirm the beneficial effects of A. calamus in augmenting the wound healing process.
RESUMO
Preservation or curing of hides and skins is performed as the primary step of leather processing. Common salt is employed as the conventional agent for curing purpose. Use of salt enhances the pollution load of tannery effluent which becomes highly contaminated with increased total dissolved solids and chlorides. To overcome this hurdle, researchers are in constant search of alternative preservation techniques which are either totally void of salt or use only a meager amount of salt. In the present study, we had explored the possibility of using Semecarpus anacardium nut extract as an alternative to salt for the curing process by assessing different parameters like hair slip, putrefaction odor, volatile nitrogen content, moisture content, bacterial count, and shrinkage temperature in comparison to the salt curing method. The antibacterial property of the plant extract was also investigated. The results obtained substantiated that the nut extract of S. anacardium effectively could preserve the skins for more than a month, by its antibacterial activity along with the dehydrating property of acetone.
