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Showing posts from July, 2015

Brine Shrimp Lethality Bioassay

Procedure for cytotoxicity  test   Brine Shrimp Lethality Bioassay Introduction Brine shrimp lethality bioassay is the recent development in the bioassay for the bioactive compounds. Natural products (extracts & pure compound) can be tested for their bioactivity by this method Here the simple zoological organism (Brine shrimp nauplii) is used as a convenient monitor for screening & fractionation in the discovery of new biotic natural products. This bioassay indicates toxicity as well as a wide range of pharmacological activities of the compounds. The brine shrimp lethality bioassay has several advantages such as- Rapid in process (24 hours) Inexpensive & simple (e.g. no aseptic technique is required) It easily utilizes a large number of organisms for statistical validation & requires no special equipment 7 relatively small amount of sample is sufficient. It does not require animal serum as it is needed for deter...

MEDICINAL PLANT

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PLANT REVIEW OF HELIOTROPIUM INDICUM: Family Profile (Boraginaceae) Members of the family Boraginaceae are herbs, shrubs or trees characterized by leaves with rough hairs, inflorescences sometimes coiled at their tips, and fruit a capsule or drupe (fleshy) of four 1-seeded nutlets. Boraginaceae is a family displaying a range of differences in habit, leaf, inflorescence, flower and fruit morphology. The species are mainly herbs, but shrubs or trees, usually multi-stemmed, also occur. Their life cycles may be annual, multiseasonal or perennial. The stems of the herbaceous species are erect, procumbent (lying on the ground without rooting at the nodes) or decumbent (spreading horizontally at first but then growing upwards). The plants are variously hairy. Setae (stiff hairs) with 1- or 2- or 3-layered, multicellular bases, unbranched or branched hairs and unbranched multicellular glandular hairs occur. The leaves are simple, with or without a leaf stalk. The in...