Geeta Tewari

• M.Sc., Ph.D.
• Professor (Full) at Kumaun University

Diospyros kaki L.f. (Family: Ebenaceae) is a medicinal plant traditionally used to treat various ailments, including cough, diabetes, gonorrhea, herpes, leucorrhea, and menorrhea. This study focuses on the ethanolic and methanolic extracts of D. kaki leaves (DKEL, DKML) and bark (DKEB, DKMB) to assess their chemical composition, antioxidant and ant...

Ecosystem functioning and management are primarily concerned with addressing climate change and biodiversity loss, which are closely linked to carbon stock and species diversity. This research aimed to quantify forest understory (shrub and herb) diversity , tree biomass and carbon sequestration in the Binsar Wildlife Sanctuary. Using random samplin...

The fresh and dried rhizomes of Hedychium spicatum are used to treat various ailments. The present work aimed to determine the influence of drying conditions (shade; HSSH, sun; HSS, oven; HSSV30 HSSV50, blower; HSB) on the essential oil profile and antioxidant potential of H. spicatum rhizomes. The oil was extracted by hydrodistillation method. The...

The essential oils were hydro-distilled and analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The oil yields were found between 0.08-0.23% w/w. A total of 42 compounds were identified i n t he e ssential o il o f a erial p art o f Boenninghausenia albiflora o btained f rom s ample B 1 a ccounting t otal 9 1.5% identification and germacrene D (21.4%), β-pinene (17.9%),...

The essential oils were hydro-distilled and analysed by GC-FID and GC-MS. The oil yields were found between 0.08-0.23% w/w. A total of 42 compounds were identified in the essential oil of aerial part of Boenninghausenia albiflora obtained from sample B1 accounting total 91.5% identification and germacrene D (21.4%), β-pinene (17.9%), limonene (11.9...

In the present study, the effect of different drying methods (sun drying, shade drying, oven drying at 35 °C, 45 °C, 55 °C and hot air blower drying) was assessed to optimize the essential oil (EO) quality of Ocimumbasilicum L. The fresh and dried samples were hydrodistilled using a Clevenger apparatus to extract the EO. The EO composition was dete...

Curcumin is a polyphenolic constituent of the rhizome of Curcuma longa and is known for its versatile biological properties like antioxidant, anti-bacterial, anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, antiviral and so forth. Despite possessing a wide range of reported pharmacological effects, its clinical applicability is restricted, because of the poor bioav...

Secondary metabolites obtained by the plants are important for evaluating the nature of the medicinal components, also influenced by different environmental stress factors. Metal toxicity is one of them. Copper being important cofactor for many enzymes, which are involved in lignin and photosynthesis, affects plants at higher level. At toxic level,...

Rich biodiversity of natural products offers a vast area for phytochemical and pharmacological investigations. Therefore, at present over 80% of known(approximately 30,000) natural products have originated from plants worldwide. Amongst some of the astonishing herbs, family Labiate (syn. Lamiaceae) includes more than 252 genera and 7000 species. Th...

Groundwater quality

Cinnamomum camphora L. belonging to family Lauraceae, is an aromatic evergreen plant which has been traditionally used to heal several health problems such as cold, fever, pneumonia, diarrhea and various infections. In this study, four drying treatments (sun, shade, blower and oven) were applied on the leaves of C. camphora collected in summer seas...

Zingiber officinale Rosc. belonging to the family Zingiberaceae, is mentioned as Maha-aushadhi in Ayurveda and is also used in many processed dried ginger-based products. The present work was designed to determine the effect of drying on the essential oil content and composition of Zingiber officinale Rosc. rhizomes collected when matured, from Kha...

Cinnamomum leaves are used extensively as spices in food and to produce essential oils for flavoring and preservation of food besides having a number of biologically active compounds making it an important part of our traditional systems of medicines. The leaves of Cinnamomum zeylanicum were collected from three different attitudes of Uttarakhand t...

A polyhouse study was conducted to assess the influence of copper amendments on the soil properties, plant growth parameters (fresh weight and plant height) and metal accumulation in Mentha arvensis L. The amendments of copper were 270, 500, 700 and 900 mg kg-1 in triplicate along with an unamended control. After 90 days of plant growth, the aerial...

The present study investigated the variability in the content, composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory potential of the volatile oil constituents of aerial parts of Ocimum americanum Linn. collected at two stages from two sites of north Himalayas. The essential oils of O. americanum at vegetative and full blooming stages were isolated by usi...

Industrial and human activities are the main causes of wastes in nature which are continuously increasing day by day and adversely influencing the health of ecosystem as well as human community. Agricultural waste is one of the major environmental problems which can be generated through cultivation, livestock and aquaculture. Besides this, agricult...

To determine the effect of growth stages on the essential oil quality for medicinal and industrial prospective, Ocimum sanctum L. was collected from three different sites of north India at the vegetative and full blooming stage. Soils collected from these sites were analyzed and the results reflected that the pH scale ranged from 6.36 to 6.76, elec...

The paper deals with the seasonal variation of physico-chemical parameters in natural spring water sources collected from Pithoragarh city, Uttarakhand, India. A total of sixteen parameters were investigated for pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons during the study. Total dissolved solids have been found to range from 315 to 729 mg/L during pre-mon...

Background Medicinal plants are considered a rich source of ingredients, which can be used in drug development and synthesis. Tinospora cordifolia (Wild.) Hook.f. & Thomson, commonly known as guduchi, heart-leaved moonseed and giloya is a herbaceous vine of the family Menispermaceae, has several beneficial properties including antioxidant activity....

Background The study on drying and its social acceptance has increased rapidly. Among different drying techniques, shade drying is one of the most feasible methods to keep intact from the decay of the main active components of the plant materials. Shade drying is an ancient drying method that increases durability, major constituents and activity of...

Origanum vulgare L., the most complex and variable species of the genus Origanum, is used to cure various diseases in the traditional medicinal system. In the current investigation, O. vulgare was collected from its natural origin and further multiplied for two years at the experimental farm of DIBER field station, Auli, and afterwards, it was grow...

In-vitro antioxidant activity of therapeutically important plant Thymus serpyllum L. grown at different altitudes viz. foothill areas, lower Himalayan and higher Himalayan regions were evaluated against various radicals such as DPPH, ABTS and reducing power assays. The antioxidant constituents like total phenols, flavonoids and total tannins were a...

Mentha arvensis L. is one of the highly valued aromatic plants due to its essential oil which finds wide application in food, flavour and pharmaceutical industries. A polyhouse study was conducted to determine the effect of copper on the essential oil composition of M. arvensis L. The amendments of copper were 270, 500, 700 and 900 mg kg⁻¹ in tripl...

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the phytotoxic effect of heavy metals (Zn, Cu, Ni, and Cr) on the growth (plant height, plant and seed weight) of Coriandrum sativum and uptake of metals. For this purpose, the polluted soil and sludge samples were collected from three sites of Moradabad: Karula nala (KS), Dhauri nala (DS), and...

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the seasonal variation of the uranium (U) concentration level in natural drinking water. Laser fluorimetry technique has been used for the microanalysis of uranium concentration in water samples collected from different natural sources like springs and subterranean springs of various depths. A total...

In the present study, pollution evaluation indices were carried out to assess the intensity of pollution in Marar industrial area of Ramgarh in Jharkhand. Fifteen groundwater samples were collected from the study area in May 2016. The physicochemical parameters (pH and EC,, HCO 3 − , Cl − , SO 4 2-, NO 3 − , F − , Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Na + , K +) and he...

The demand for natural products in various applications such as food, cosmetic and medicine has increased across the globe. In this context the aromatic and medicinal plant Ocimum sanctum has gained immense importance. The whole plant including leaves, root, stem and flowers has been used for its therapeutic potential since ancient time. Due to its...

Considering the increasing need of alternative nutritional sources, 15 important wild edible plants viz. Carissa congesta, Castanea sativa, Cinnamomum tamala, Diplazium esculentum, Ficussemicordata, Gonatanthus pumilus, Murraya koenigii, Phyllanthus emblica, Pyracantha crenulata, Pyrus pashia, Rumex hastatus, Terminalia chebula, Viburnum mullaha, Z...

Thymus serpyllum L., a well-known aromatic plant of the Himalayan region is often used in pharmaceutical, cosmetic, flavoring and fragrance industries because of its phenolic and non-phenolic constituents. The amount of these compounds varies with the origin, the climatic conditions and the developmental stage of harvesting time of the plant. Under...

In the present study, the groundwater quality for suitability in agriculture from Udham Singh Nagar district, Uttarakhand, has been evaluated. A total of 50 groundwater samples have been collected and analysed for pH, EC, TH, HCO 3 − , CO 3 2− , Cl − , SO 4 2− , NO 3-, Ca 2+ , Mg 2+ , Na + and K +. To assess the groundwater quality for irrigation p...

The present study investigated the compositional variation and antioxidant potential of Origanum vulgare L. (subsp. vulgare) collected from three districts of Uttarakhand, India. The essential oil composition was analyzed by GC and GC/MS, and the antioxidant potential was evaluated using 2,2ʹ-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging acti...

Drying is an ancient technique adopted to reduce moisture, preserve aroma profile and increase the shelf life of the food products. During drying, the chemical, nutritional and antioxidant properties of the food can get altered as compared to the fresh material. Natural shade drying is the most accepted storage method for aromatic medicinal herbs b...

The investigations was based on chemical diversity of the essential oils provide an opportunity to choose oils with preferential flavor and biologically active composition. Aerial part of Foeniculum vulgare collected from five locations namely Moradabad, Tanakpur, Haldwani, Pithoragarh and Didihat at different altitudes (198, 255, 424, 1514 and 172...

Antioxidant activity of essential oils obtained fromHimalayan Lamiaceae specieswas evaluated using in-vitro antioxidant models. Results revealed that the N. ciliaris oil displayed maximum DPPH activity (IC50: 0.9 mg/mL), while N. leucophylla essential oil exhibited high TAC (6.6 mg AAE/g). The oils from N. leucophylla, E. annuus and E. mucronatus p...

Ocimum gratissimum, commonly known as Rama Tulsi is a rich source of aroma chemicals that find varied application in the food, flavor and pharmaceutical industry. A polyhouse study was conducted to determine the effect of zinc on the growth and essential oil composition of O. gratissimum L. The treatments of zinc were 600, 1000 and 1200 mg kg⁻¹ in...

In the present study, fresh aerial parts of Ocimum americanum L. were collected from Ramnagar, India and sun and shade drying was applied until constant weights. The fresh and dried plant materials were hydrodistilled by Clevenger apparatus and the extracted oils were analyzed by GC and GC/MS. One-way ANOVA and correlation were performed to evaluat...

The study was aimed to evaluate the impact of drying on the aroma profile and antioxidant activity of the aerial parts of Origanum vulgare L. The plant material was dried using different methods like shade, sun, hot air blower and oven drying (at 35°C, 45°C and 55°C). Chemical composition of the essential oils obtained from hydrodistillation was an...

Ocimum gratissimum (Family: Lamiaceae), is an aromatic herbaceous plant which is native to tropical countries especially India and West Africa. It has been traditionally used for medicinal, condiment and culinary purpose. Fresh leaves of Ocimum gratissimum were collected from the cultivated field of Haldwani (Uttarakhand), India at full blooming st...

The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of drying on the essential oil composition and oil content of Ocimum americanum L. For the study, the aerial parts of the plant were collected from Ranikhet, district Almora and dried using different drying methods until constant weight, i.e., sun-drying (26°C ± 5°C), shade-drying (20°C ± 5°C) a...

Plant productivity and safety of agricultural crops growing in metal contaminated soils is emerging as a major environmental problem affecting human health. To assess the effect of metals on herbage and oil productivity and the feasibility of growing aromatic crops in metal contaminated areas, a green house pot experiment was designed in which sapl...

Inflorescence of Coriandrum sativum collected from five locations of North India was hydrodistilled and analysed by GC and GC-MS to assess their chemical diversity. The GC and GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 30 compounds representing 92.9–98.5% of the total oils. The highest concentration of linalool (62.1%) was found in the essential oil f...

This study was conducted to assess the phytotoxic effect of invasive species: Parthenium hysterophorus L. on the germination, seedling length and biomass of Zea mays, Macrotyloma uniflorum and Triticum aestivum, in order to explore its potential as noxious species. In this study, the allelopathic substances were extracted with distilled water and m...

Cinnamomum genus belonging to the family Lauraceace comprises of evergreen trees and shrubs. Over 250 species of Cinnamomum have been reported all over the world which are distributed in tropical and subtropical regions of North America, Central America, South America, Asia, Oceania, and Australia. Cinnamomum species have been mentioned in the Bibl...

The present study was carried out to evaluate the antioxidant activity of leaf and twig methanol, hexane and DCM extracts of Ginkgo biloba L., a valuable rare exotic medicinal plant. This was achieved by radical scavenging, metal chelating, FRAP assay and ABTS radical scavenging activity determination. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents were als...

The fresh aerial parts of cultivated M. spicata were hydrodistilled and analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The essential oil isolated from the plant was rich in sesquiterpenes namely trans-muurola-4(14), 5-diene, piperitenone oxide and β-caryophyllene. Geranyl propanoate, sibirene, borneol, allo-ocimene, β-elemene and germacrene D-4-ol were present as m...

Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng, Indian curry leaf plant is widely used in households for imparting a characteristic flavour to Indian dishes. The plant is reported to have significant medicinal value. The essential oil and dried leaves are exported to several countries due to its importance for culinary and medicinal value. Keeping in view, the chemi...

The emergence of new infections and increase of bacterial drug resistance has prompted interest for the development of new antibacterial agents from natural sources. This study is an attempt to assess the therapeutic potential of plant constituents as new antimicrobial drugs. The essential oils from six Asteraceae species belonging to the genus Eri...

The phytochemical attributes including proteins, carbohydrates and phenolic content of paddy landraces, millets, pulses, spice and oil yielding crop have been investigated along with the morphological properties of nineteen paddy landraces. In vitro antioxidant activity was assessed by ABTS, DPPH radical scavenging method and FRAP assay. The morpho...

Chemical composition of Torilis japonica (Houtt.) DC. growing wild in the central Himalayan region, was analyzed by capillary GC and GC-MS. The oil was found to be rich in sesquiterpine hydrocarbons (59.47%). A total of 44 compounds were identified representing 94.28% of the oil. Germacrene D (25.86%), -humulene (14.64%), - caryophyllene (11.33%)...

The present study was undertaken to assess the allelopathic effect of Echinochloa colona L. and Cyperus iria L. in relation to the germination and primary growth of Oryza sativa L. (rice) and Glycine max L. (soyabean). Effects of dichloromethane (DCM) and double distilled water soluble (DDW) fractions of E. colona L. and C. iria L. root and aerial...

A laboratory incubation experiment of 52 days was carried out to observe the changes in soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), soil organic carbon (SOC) and organic matter (OM) to which sewage sludge had been applied at different rates. The effect of sludge varied with incubation period. Experiment was carried out under oxic (at field capacity mois...

Physico-chemical properties of soils from different land use systems viz. agriculture, olericulture and two dominant forest types (oak; Quercus leucotrichophora and pine; Pinus roxburghii) in Uttarakhand were analyzed. The forest soils had significantly (p<0.05) higher water holding capacity, organic carbon, cation exchange capacity, available nitr...

The review is based on chemical, biocidal and pharmacological approach of Origanum species. Almost all Origanum species have carvacrol as major compound. Other major compounds such as thymol, gamma-terpinene, p-cymene, linalool, terpinen-4-ol, germacrene-D, beta-caryophyllene, myrcene etc. are reported in Origanum species. Flavonoids, phenolic acid...

(7R)-trans, trans-nepetalactone; a monoterpene iridoid (1) and acetylenic compound named cis-lachnophyllum ester (2) were isolated from the essential oils of Nepeta elliptica and Erigeron annuus, respectively and characterized using a combination of their spectral data (1D-and 2D-NMR, MS, IR). Compound 1 and 2 were tested for biopesticide activity...

Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba 1,., Family : Ginkgoaceae), Is one of the oldest living tree species; used in traditional medicine to treat blood disorders and potentially keep memory sharp. The essential oils from the leaves of Ginkgo biloba, collected from Kumaun region In Uttarakhand, India, was analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. Sixty-eight compounds ha...

In a greenhouse study, saplings of Ocimum basilicum L. and Mentha spicata L. were planted in pots in four replicates on soils treated with different concentrations of lead, copper and cadmium. The essential oil composition of aerial parts was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. There was significant quantitative variation in the essential oil of Ocimum basil...

The herb Agrimonia aitchisonii is used for curing liver, gastrointestinal and respiratory related disorders. The essential oil composition of Agrimonia aitchisonii collected from two locations in Kumaun Himalaya, Uttarakhand, India was analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The oils were rich in methyl myrtenate, limonene and camphene.

Beneficial therapeutic properties are shown by a number of minerals, essential to human nutrition. Many of these nutrients are present in different parts of plants and also have a significant role in biological systems either with organic molecules such as metalloenzymes or independently like redox or catalytic reaction. The concentration (mg kg-1)...

Artemisia parviflora Buch.-Ham. ex Roxb. (Family: Asteraceae) a perennial herb, widely distributed in hilly parts between altitude of 900–3500 and is used for the treatment of high blood pressure, diabetes and possesses anthelmintic and anti-viral properties. The essential oil of aerial parts of A. parviflora was analyzed by Gas chromatography and...

Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth (Scrophulariaceae), commonly known as Kutki, is an important medicinal herb in the traditional ayurvedic system of medicine and has been used to treat various diseases. It is known to contain iridoid glycosides (picrotin and picrotoxin) which are found responsible for the medicinal effects of Kutki. This study addre...

The pharmaceutical, cosmetic and agricultural demand of medicinal and aromatic plant species causes pro-motion of their commercial cultivation in order to meet the increasing demand within the domestic and export markets. Rhizomes of Hedychium spicatum Buch. Ham. (Family : Zingiberaceae), contain bioactive compounds that are responsible for anti-in...

Vegetables growing on heavy metal contaminated soils can accumulate high concentrations o f trace elements and may pose serious health risk to consumers. Essential trace elements (Fe, Zn, Mn, Cr) were analyzed in edible and non-edible parts of six vegetables i.e. palak, bathua, shalgam, cauliflower, cabbage and coriander collected from Dhaurinala a...

The volatile constituents of Geranium wallichianum D. Don ex Sweet. of the family Geraniaceae collected from north-western Himalayan region, India was analyzed by capillary GC and GC/MS. The major volatile constituents were germacrene D (28.5%), -caryophyllene (15.9%) and selinene < 7-epi- > (8.5%) along with -cadinene, -cadinol, linalool, -bo...

Essential oil of Melia azedarach Linn. obtained by hydro distillation using Clevenger apparatus was analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Eighteen compounds were identified representing 92.21% of the total oil. The oil contains the highest proportion of oxygenated sesquiterpene hydrocarbons (73.99%)....

Antimicrobial potential of leaf and twig extracts of Himalayan gymnosperm Ginkgo biloba L. has been determined by agar well diffusion and agar dilution methods respectively. Strains of five Gram positive bacteria were used as test organisms. Plant extract were prepared in different organic solvents (methanol, hexane and DCM). All plant extracts exh...

The essential oil from the flowering aerial parts of Heracleum lanatum Michx. family Apiaceae was obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by combination of GC (RI) and GC-MS. The chemical composition of the isolated oil is reported for the first time. Sixty five compounds were identified representing 96.95% of the total oil. The chemical composi...