Chapters authored
The Deep Purple Color and the Scent are Two Great Qualities of the Black Scented Rice (Chakhao) of Manipur
Specialty rice varieties with unique properties such as unique color, flavor, aroma and nutraceutical qualities are increasingly in demand other than the traditional white rice varieties. Black rice has various nutraceutical properties with high anthocyanin content and the anthocyanin antioxidants are very important in preventing various diseases. Black scented rice of Manipur, which are commonly known as Chakhao, are deep purple colored and scented, and are very glutinous, as well. Two Chakhao cultivars, Chakhao Poireiton and Chakhao Amubi, were shown to have high anthocyanin and phenolics content and strong antioxidant activity. The main anthocyanins of Chakhao Poireiton are delphinidin 3‐galactoside, delphinidin 3‐arabinoside, cyanidin 3‐galactoside and cyanidin 3‐glucoside and that of Chakhao Amubi are delphinidin 3‐galactoside, delphinidin 3‐arabinoside and cyanidin 3‐galactoside. By GC‐MS analysis, a cross mixture of 26 volatile compounds from Chakhao Poireiton and 11 volatile compounds from Chakhao Amubi were found to be responsible for emanating the aroma. Among the complex mixture of volatile oil components, n‐hexadecanoic acid and octadec‐9‐enoic acid were the most abundant in Chakhao Poireiton and 17‐pentatriacontene, l3‐octadecenal (Z) and hexadecenoic acid eicosyl ester in Chakhao Amubi.
Part of the book: Advances in International Rice Research
Herbal Remedies for Breast Cancer Prevention and Treatment
Breast cancer is among the most common type of cancer in women around the globe. Prevention of breast cancer is better than its treatment. Because of the molecular variation and complexity underlying breast cancer occurrence, its treatment by using chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy is very complicated and often leads to undesirable side effects. Plants and their extracts have been used for centuries for the treatment of almost every disease and breast cancer is not an exception. Herbal products can be trusted for cancer treatment because of their low toxicity. Besides, herbal remedies are easily accepted by the majority of woman suffering from breast cancer because of their easy availability and affordability. In the last decade, a large number of plants and their compounds were reported to show promising anticancerous effects against breast cancer cells in both in vivo and in vitro models. However, their beneficial effects on breast cancer treatment are still doubtful due to the lack of randomized clinical trials. This chapter is dedicated to reporting the potential of some herbal products for the prevention and/or treatment of breast cancer. Besides, it focused on the anticarcinogenic mechanism of those phytocompounds to report their potential chemotherapeutic role.
Part of the book: Medicinal Plants
The Chemistry Behind Plant DNA Isolation Protocols
Various plant species are biochemically heterogeneous in nature, a single deoxyribose nucleic acid (DNA) isolation protocol may not be suitable. There have been continuous modification and standardization in DNA isolation protocols. Most of the plant DNA isolation protocols used today are modified versions of hexadecyltrimethyl-ammonium bromide (CTAB) extraction procedure. Modification is usually performed in the concentration of chemicals used during the extraction procedure according to the plant species and plant part used. Thus, understanding the role of each chemical (viz. CTAB, NaCl, PVP, ethanol, and isopropanol) used during the DNA extraction procedure will benefit to set or modify protocols for more precisions. A review of the chemicals used in the CTAB method of DNA extraction and their probable functions on the highly evolved yet complex to students and researchers has been summarized.
Part of the book: Biochemical Analysis Tools