Gh. Jalilzadeh-Amin; N. Shamshiri; J. Aliakbarlu
Abstract
Herbal medicines are natural and safe; however, side effects can occur following excessive use of them. This research was aimed to investigate the acute toxicity and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Artemisia dracunculus L. The essential oil of A. dracunculus (EOAD) was extracted by Clevenger ...
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Herbal medicines are natural and safe; however, side effects can occur following excessive use of them. This research was aimed to investigate the acute toxicity and antioxidant activity of the essential oil of Artemisia dracunculus L. The essential oil of A. dracunculus (EOAD) was extracted by Clevenger apparatus using hydrodistillation. Two types of essential oil were studied including fresh and old oil (kept in laboratory conditions for three months). All protocols were tested for both fresh and old oil. The LD50 was calculated based on Lorke’s method using Probit Analysis and maximum Likelihood method with MINITAB software. To induce acute toxicity, appropriate concentrations of essential oil (10, 100, 1000, 1600, 2900 and 5000mg/kg of EOAD) were given orally and intraperitoneally. The antioxidant activity of EOAD (1-32mg/ml) was measured by two methods: DPPH and ABTS assays. The oral LD50 values were greater than 5000 mg/kg and 3801.33mg/kg for fresh and old EO, respectively. When fresh and old EO administered intraperitoneally, the LD50 values were calculated to be 4810.06mg/kg and 3013.33mg/kg, respectively. The fresh essential oil showed higher antioxidant activity as compared with the old essential oil in both DPPH and ABTS methods. Our results clearly indicate that the essential oil of this plant is non-toxic and contains antioxidant compounds that support the use of tarragon in traditional medicine.
M. Lotfi; B. Abbaszadeh; M. Mirza
Abstract
In this study the effect of drought stress on morphological traits, metabolites proline accumulation, soluble carbohydrates and the yield of Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.), was evaluated in order to produce Tarragon in drought stress condition as a medicinal plant, and also determine the threshold ...
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In this study the effect of drought stress on morphological traits, metabolites proline accumulation, soluble carbohydrates and the yield of Tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus L.), was evaluated in order to produce Tarragon in drought stress condition as a medicinal plant, and also determine the threshold of stress tolerance. This research was done using randomized complete blocks design with 4 treatments and 3 replications. The stress treatments were included T1 (100% of field capacity), T2 (80% of field capacity), T3 (60% of field capacity) and T4 (40% of field capacity). According to the results of statistical analysis, the drought stress had significant effect on morphological traits, flowering shoot yield, proline and soluble carbohydrates. In addition, the enhancement of drought stress led to decrease in plant height, canopy diameter, leaf length, leaf width and leaf surface, stem diameter, the length of longest lateral shoot, root length and its development, shoot yield and dry leaf yield. Comparison of treatment means showed that the highest plant height, canopy diameter, leaf length, leaf width and leaf surface, stem diameter, the length of longest lateral shoot, root length, shoot yield and dry leaf yield were related to T1 (non stress); in addition, the highest amount of proline, soluble carbohydrates and root development were related to T4 (40%FC). Therefore, drought stress had negative effect on most morphological traits and flowering shoot yield; however, it led to increase in the root length, proline and soluble carbohydrates of flowering shoots.
S. Farjnia; M. Janahmadi; H. Abbasipour; J. Vatanparast; M. Kamalinejad
Volume 24, Issue 2 , August 2008, , Pages 225-236
Abstract
Tarragon)Artemisia dracunculus L.) is a perennial herb in the Asteraceae family used for its aromatic leaves in seasoning. In Iranian ancient medicine, the dried aerial parts of this plant were orally used to treat epilepsy. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. In the present study, ...
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Tarragon)Artemisia dracunculus L.) is a perennial herb in the Asteraceae family used for its aromatic leaves in seasoning. In Iranian ancient medicine, the dried aerial parts of this plant were orally used to treat epilepsy. Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders. In the present study, using intracellular recording the anti-epileptiform potential of the ethanolic extract of tarragon and its possible cellular mechanism was assessed against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) epileptogenesis. In the presence of tarragon extract (0.1%), the PTZ-induced burst activity disappeared. The cell membrane potential became 67.8% more depolarized than the control value. The firing frequency also decreased 62.5% and 83.8% compared to control and in the presence of PTZ, respectively. Exposure to extract, furthermore, caused 36% reduction in the amplitude of after hyper polarization (AHP) compared to control, but not to PTZ, condition. On the other hand, extra cellular application of extract alone led to a membrane depolarization by about 16.69%. While, the firing frequency reduced to 77.3% of control and the amplitude of both action potential and AHP remained almost unchanged. These changes were associated with a shift in the neuronal firing pattern from regular tonic to an irregular mode. Pretreatment with tarragon extract did not completely prevent the epileptogenesis induced by PTZ. Consequently, these results suggest that tarragon extract reduces the neuronal excitability possibly through the membrane depolarization.
