Browsing by Author "Marasinghe, P."

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Antioxidant Properties and α-Amylase Inhibition Activities of Four Different Curcuma Species in Sri Lanka
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Samarasinghe, K.G.B.A.; Kaliyadasa, P.E.; Marasinghe, P.
    The genus Curcuma belongs to the family Zingiberaceae comprises rhizomatous annual or perennial herbs. Curcuma has a long history of traditional uses ranging from folk medicine to its culinary uses. This study was undertaken to study the biological activities of rhizomes and leaves of four Curcuma species available in Sri Lanka namely, Curcuma albiflora, Curcuma aromatica, Curcuma longa, and Curcuma zedoaria. Fresh rhizomes and leaves of four Curcuma species were collected from their natural habitats in Wet and Dry Zones of Sri Lanka. Rhizomes and leaves were cleaned and cut into small pieces and oven-dried at 45 °C and 40 °C respectively for 12 hrs. Dried samples were ground into a fine powder. Methanol extracts from rhizomes and leaves were screened for total polyphenol content (TPC), antioxidant activity, and α-amylase inhibition activities. The TPC of dried rhizomes of Curcuma longa was the highest of all tested as 5.530 ± 0.012 g of GA equivalents per 1 g of the dried rhizome. The Methanol extracts of the rhizome and leaf samples of four species showed moderate antioxidant activity in the DPPH radical scavenging assay with IC50 values ranging from 150.253 ± 0.273 ppm to 389.051 ± 0.426 ppm. Interestingly the rhizome extracts of Curcuma aromatica, Curcuma longa, and Curcuma zedoaria exhibited higher α-amylase inhibitory activities (13.915 ± 0.023, 6.455 ± 0.117 and 9.492 ± 0.024 respectively) than the Acarbose drug which is an antidiabetic drug (28.273±0.615 ppm). The results revealed that the Sri Lankan Curcuma species have a potency to be used as a source of antioxidant and antidiabetic agents and it is important to increase the value of the unexplored medicinal herbs available in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Antioxidant, Anti-diabetic, Biological Activities, Curcuma
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Comparative Study on the Phytochemical Composition of Medicinally Important Three Ocimum Species Available in Sri Lanka.
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) De Silva, S.D.A.I.; Kaliyadasa, P.E.; Lochana, E.A.L.; Marasinghe, P.
    Ocimum species have been used as an important medicinal herb, since ancient times but no recorded scientific evidence on morphological variations and phytochemical composition in Sri Lanka. Hence this study was conducted to determine the variation of morphological characteristics, total polyphenol content, antioxidant activity, and essential oil composition of three different Ocimum species namely; Ocimum sanctum, Ocimum gratissimum and Ocimum americanum. Healthy and fresh leaves of Ocimum plants were collected from Badulla and Welimada area. Morphological differences in leaves, flowers, roots, stem, and seeds of three Ocimum species were compared visually and recorded. Methanol extraction was performed using dried and powdered leaf samples and analysed total polyphenol content and antioxidant activity for three species using the Folin Ciocalteu reagent method and standard 2,2-diphenyl-1- picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging activity respectively. Hydro distillation was done to extract essential oils from Ocimum sanctum and Ocimum gratissimum and analysed by using Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry method. There were differences and similarities between morphological characteristics among three species. The maximum polyphenol content was recorded in Ocimum americanum and the minimum was recorded in Ocimum sanctum. In determination of antioxidant activity, the highest half maximal inhibitory concentration was recorded in Ocimum americanum and the lowest was recorded in Ocimum gratissimum. There were differences in essential oil composition between Ocimum sanctum and Ocimum gratissimum. It can be concluded that there is a significant variation in morphological characteristics and phytochemical composition of three different Ocimum species available in Sri Lanka. Keywords: Antioxidant, Chromatography, Polyphenol, Scavenging, Spectrometry.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Effect of Different Potting Media for Vegetative Propagation of Tippili (Piper longum and Piper samentosum)
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2013) Sudasinghe, S.P.; Alwis, L.M.H.R.; Marasinghe, P.
    Tippili is a widely used ayurvedic medicinal raw material in Sri Lanka. There are two types of tippili, known as, wal tippili and gas tippili (Personal contact ayurvedic physicians). Those two herbs were identified as separate species: Piper longum and Piper samentosum, which belong to the family Piperaceae and native to South and South East Asia. It is a dioecious, perennial herb with a thick, erect and branched rootstock and an ascending or prostrate stem (Huber, 1987). Although those plants can be grown in wet regions in Sri Lanka, tippili is highly cultivated in low country wet zone. The economic important parts are roots and dry spikes of female plant, which are generally used for its several medicinal and spicy properties. Availability of tippili as raw material in Sri Lanka is not sufficient to cater the requirement and the demand of the tippili plant has been increased. Therefore, Sri Lanka has to import tippili from South Bihar region in India (Abeywardana and Hettiarachchi, 2001). According to Department of Ayurveda (Technical branch), Sri Lanka has expended US $ 246485 for tippili spikes and US $ 43009 for tippili roots. India is a leading country which is producing ayurvedic products and they export adulterants due to high demand. Those adulterants do not have proper medicinal value. As a result final medicinal value of local ayurvedic products could be reduced. Therefore, it is better that local requirement of tippili to be produced within our country. Most of Sri Lankan tippili plants are female plants (Samuel, 1982) and the seed production is very low. Therefore, tippili plant is difficult to multiply through the seed propagation. According to Samuel (1982) it is grown as a medicinal plant to a limited extent in village homesteads in Sri Lanka. Stem cutting is a present method follows the multiplication of tippili plant. There are no recommended potting mixture, environmental requirements, cuttings and other planting materials available for vegetative propagation. The aim of this study was to find out the effective potting medium, polythene type and species for vegetative propagation of tippili for commercial scale cultivation using stem cuttings. Methodology This study was carried out at National Research Medicinal Plant Garden in Haldummulla using three factor factorial CRD design. The three factors considered that can be affected on vegetative propagation were two species of tippil (P. longum and P. samentosum), polythene treatment combinations were used with three replicates. Four different media: media 1 – M1 (Sand: Coir dust 1: 1), media 2 – M2 (Soil: Coir dust 1: 1), media 3 – M3 (Sand: Soil: Coir dust 1: 1: 1), media 4- M4 (Sand: Soil: Coir dust 1: 1: 1) were prepared as potting media which were sterilized using sunlight method. Three nodal cuttings (height-about 5 inches) were taken from each species. The performance of P. longum and P. samentosum plants was evaluated by recording dry weight of plant roots after 90 days of cuttings established, length of the root (length of longest root) and shoot height. Data analysis of the experiment was conducted using an Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) procedure of the Minitab version 16.
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Phytochemical Comparison of Imported and Locally Available Species of Rubia cordifolia (Walmadata)
    (Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka, 2020) Fernando, L.A.M.E.; Kaliyadsa, P.E.; Marasinghe, P.; Wedamulla, N.E.
    At the commercial level, it is difficult to find quality medicinal plant material though it is important in Ayurvedic preparations. R. cordifolia is a common and important medicinal plant belongs to the Rubaceia family. It imports from India through favourable growing conditions that exist in Sri Lanka. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the important phytochemical properties of imported and locally available materials of Rubia cordifolia. The imported market sample was collected from the Uva Provincial Department of Ayurveda, Diyathalawa, and the fresh locally available sample was collected from Maspanna (IM1a) forest area in Welimada. Those samples were washed and dried under the shade, oven-dried at 40°C and sonication proceeded for phytochemical extraction using 70% methanol. Before the extraction, samples were observed for macroscopic and microscopic features of the root and stem. Phytochemical properties such as total polyphenols, antioxidant activity, flavonoid, and anthocyanin were quantitatively analysed by using standard protocols available in the literature with slight modifications. There was no significant difference between morphological characteristics of locally available Rubia cordifolia and Indian species according to the literature except the colour of the stem and roots. However physicochemical properties of the locally available sample are in better comparison to the imported market available sample. The 7.412± 0.45 mg gallic acid/1 g dry weight of polyphenol was received from the local sample and it was significantly higher amount compare to the imported sample (4.182 ± 0.399 mg gallic acid/1 g dry weight, p<0.05). A significantly high antioxidant activity was observed in the locally available sample 239.08 µg/ml compare to the imported sample 228.48µg/ml. Flavonoid content and monomeric anthocyanin in local available R.cordifolia is significantly lower than the imported sample of R.cordifolia. This implies the potential of using locally available materials for drug manufacturing and different Ayurveda preparations. Keywords: Antioxidants, Polyphenols, Flavonoids