Joseph K S

• Ph.D.
• Professor (Assistant) at Christ University

Piper longum belongs to the family Piperaceae and is an important spice in India. The dried female spikes and roots of this plant have high commercial value because it is utilized in several formulations for treating different diseases like fever, common cold, indigestion, bronchitis, asthma, cancer, leprosy etc. P. longum contains more than fifty...

Plantago ovata is an economically significant medicinal plant that is widely grown in many regions of India, Pakistan, Iran, and some areas of Europe. It has a long antiquity of conventional applications and has therapeutic qualities. Seed husk has a variety of purposes in both health and industry, as well as commercial products. The seed husk, als...

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are small, positively charged biomolecules produced by various organisms such as animals, microbes, and plants. These AMPs play a significant role in defense mechanisms and protect from adverse conditions. The emerging problem of drug resistance in microbes poses a global health challenge in treating diseases. This pla...

Ficus drupacea is a fruit-bearing tree that is distributed in Southeast Asia and Australia. The objective of this research was to ascertain the following with regard to ripened fruits: (i) their nutritional value, (ii) their mineral status, (iii) the fatty acid composition of fruit and seed oil, (iv) their phytochemical makeup, and (v) their antiox...

Betalains are nitrogen-containing natural pigments that are water soluble and they comprise of the red-violet betacyanin and the yellow betaxanthin which are abundant in plants such as red/yellow beet, amaranth, prickly pear, pitaya, and others. They are widely used as food coloring agents for many centuries. Betalains are used in pharmaceuticals,...

The recent advancements for the biosynthesis of nanoparticles from plant biomass offer a promising avenue for the sustainable and environmentally friendly production of nanomaterials. The utilization of plant extracts as bioreductants and capping agents leverages naturally occurring biomolecules for the controlled synthesis of nanoparticles, minimi...

The biosynthesis of novel nanoparticles with varied morphologies, which has good implications for their biological capabilities, has attracted increasing attention in the field of nanotechnology. Bioactive compounds present in the extract of fungi, bacteria, plants and algae are responsible for nanoparticle synthesis. In comparison to other biologi...

In response to the escalating need for nanomaterials characterized by enhanced properties and reduced environmental impact, this study addresses critical challenges associated with conventional nanomaterial synthesis methods, particularly focusing on concerns related to environmental toxicity and economic feasibility. In this study, we report the e...

Due to its envisaged relevance in nanomedicine and materials research, the bio-engineering of nanoparticles (NPs) is becoming progressively more promising. Compared to physical and chemical processes, green synthesis produces NPs that are less hazardous to the environment. The usage of phytochemicals in Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) leaf extract (GGL)...

Selaginella willdenowii, a commonly used greenhouse fern, was often used as a biowaste to synthesize Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) in an eco-friendly and cost effective way. UV-visible spectra studies were carried out to confirm the synthesis of S. willdenowii-mediated ZnO NPs (SW-ZnO NPs), and a peak at 367 nm with a sharp band gap of 3....

Cordyceps, an entomopathogenic fungus belonging to the Ascomycota phylum, is a familiar remedial mushroom that is extensively used in the traditional medicinal system, especially in South Asian nations. The significance of this genus’ members in a range of therapeutic and biotechnological applications has long been acknowledged. The exceedingly val...

The human gut has a rich and dynamic microbial population that plays an important role in many physiological activities. This review explores the complex interaction between the gut microbiota and human health, with an emphasis on its effect on neurodegenerative illnesses. The makeup of the gut microbiome and its impact on brain function through th...

Currently, in vitro cell, tissue, and organ cultures are used to produce plant secondary metabolites that are used as natural coloring agents, nutraceuticals, and medications. Various strategies have been applied for the hyperaccumulation of biomass and bioactive secondary compounds in vitro. The elicitation of cultured cells and organs with biotic...

Purpose: To provide an updated summary of recent advances in the application of gamma irradiation to elicit secondary metabolism and for induction of mutations in plant cell and organ cultures for the production of industrially important specialized metabolites (SMs). Conclusions: Research on the application of gamma radiation with plants has co...

The current study focused on the bioreduction synthesis of ZnO nanoparticles using Garcinia gummi-gutta leaf extracts. The UV-vis analysis of the nanoparticles has reported the formation of an SPR peak at 379 nm. The functional groups taking part in the reduction reaction were analyzed using the FTIR technique and the average crystalline size of Zn...

This research work explores the green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using Quassia indica(QI-Ag NPs), a natural plant extract, as a stabilizing and reducing agent. The synthesized QI-Ag NPs were characterized using various analytical techniques, including UV-Visible spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energ...

Cassava ( Manihot esculenta Crantz) is believed to be an important staple food crop providing potential valuable food source as well as variety of phytoconstituents. Its starchy tubers provide a significant source of energy for around 500 million individuals. Among staple crops, it is regarded to be one of the top suppliers of carbohydrates. Its ph...

Green synthesized nanoparticles from Strobilanthes barbatus leaf extracts are environmentally safe and feasible for enduring wastewater treatment, especially for organic textile dye degradation. The synthesized Strobilanthes barbatus–mediated silver/silver-oxide nanoparticles (SB-Ag/AgO NPs) showed maximum absorbance at 428 nm. The SB-Ag/AgO NPs we...

Biocompatible nanoparticle synthesis from Strobilanthes hamiltoniana leaf extracts is an ecologically friendly, cost-effective and long-lasting technique for wastewater treatment, particularly for textile dye degradation. S. hamiltoniana mediated silver nanoparticles (SH-Ag NPs) showed a maximum absorbance of 432 nm. Based on the FESEM analysis, th...

Anthocyanins are water-soluble pigments found in plants. They exist in various colors, including red, purple, and blue, and are utilized as natural colorants in the food and cosmetics industries. The pharmaceutical industry uses anthocyanins as therapeutic compounds because they have several medicinal qualities, including anti-obesity, anti-cancer,...

Plants and their products have been utilized as raw materials in the preparation of cosmetics for millennia. Currently, research is being done to find new plant materials that may be used as ingredients in cosmetic preparations, including body sprays, shampoos, conditioners, hair dyes/sprays, and other cosmetics. The plants that are used in the pre...

Cadmium (Cd) is a non-essential element with sub-lethal effects even at low concentrations. The persistent nature of Cd and its tendency to bioaccumulate eventually create harmful effects on water biota, including fish. Cd affects various aspects of hormonal action in fish since it bioaccumu-lates in the endocrine system and hinders the synthesis,...

Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. (Nelumbonaceae A. Rich.) is a beautiful aquatic flowering plant with a subterranean rhizome. With a vast array of culinary applications and a storehouse of bioactive compounds in its plant parts, N. nucifera functions as both an underground food crop and a valuable medicinal plant. With a more than 7,000-year history of cul...

The antioxidant and photocatalytic activity of Artemisia stelleriana-based silver nanoparticles (AS-AgNPs) was investigated in this study. Microscopic, X-ray diffraction and spectroscopic studies were used to characterize the synthesized AS-AgNPs. UV–visible spectrophotometric examination revealed a peak at 425 nm. The phytocompounds involved in th...

Prognostic research points to the necessity and relevance of revamping polluted environments. The toxic effect of textile dyes released into waterbodies can be reduced by the degradation process and alternate methods in nanotechnology are used to lessen the gravity of the situation. Compared with chemical and physical NP synthesis, plant extract-ba...

Phytochemicals are plant-based products with high medicinal value. These metabolites effectively target disease-causing microbes. Drug-resistant pathogens have developed mechanisms to sustain themselves even with inhibitors. Drug resistance has emerged as a global giant, causing all available treatment options to fail. The solution to this problem...

Specialized plant metabolites, such as phenolics, terpenes, terpenoids, nitrogen-containing compounds, and sulfur-containing compounds, are commercially valuable owing to their wide array of applications in the medical, pharmacological, cosmetic, agriculture, and food industries. Procuring valuable specialized metabolites from wild or cultivated pl...

Secondary metabolites from plants are ubiquitous and have applications in medicines, food additives, scents, colorants, and natural pesticides. Biotechnological production of secondary metabolites that have economic benefits is an attractive alternative to conventional methods. Cell, adventitious, and hairy root suspension cultures are typically us...

The circadian clock is an ascribed regulator found in the cells of creatures, that keeps biological and behavioral processes in sync with daily environmental changes throughout the 24-hour cycles. When the circadian clock in humans malfunctions or is misaligned with environmental signals, the timing of the sleep-wake cycle is altered and several ci...

Background Methods like the bio-synthesis of silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using plant extracts have become promising due to their eco-friendly approach. The study aimed to examine the utilization of Garcinia gummi-gutta fruit phytochemicals as agents in the biosynthesis of Ag NPs, evaluation of the antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anti-cancerous pr...

In vitro plant cell and organ cultures are appealing alternatives to traditional methods of producing valuable specialized metabolites for use as: pharmaceuticals, food additives, cosmetics, perfumes, and agricultural chemicals. Cell cultures have been adopted for the production of specialized metabolites in certain plants. However, in certain othe...

Human needs have led to the development of various products which are produced in the industries. These industries in turn have become a source of various environmental concerns. As industries release regulated and unregulated contaminants into the water bodies, it has become a serious concern for all living organisms. Various emerging contaminates...

The modernization and advancements in the therapeutic field have led to the increased utilization of complex pharmaceuticals in the day to day life. As pharmaceutical usage has risen sharply, these chemicals’ metabolites and byproducts are continually discharged into the environment. After utilizing the drugs, it has been discarded in the environme...

A sustainable, affordable, and cost-effective method was developed to synthesize zinc oxide nanoparticles (SB-ZnO-NPs) using leaf extracts of Strobilanthes barbatus. The synthesized SB-ZnO-NPs displayed an absorbance maximum at 359 nm with a band gap of 3.24 eV. The average diameter of the SB-ZnO-NPs, as determined by FESEM analysis, was 84.23 nm....

Andrographis macrobotrys Nees is an ethnomedicinal plant belonging to the family Acan-thaceae, distributed in the moist deciduous and semi-evergreen forests of the southern Western Ghats of India. The objective of this research was to determine the phytochemical composition and bioactive chemical components using gas chromatography and mass spectro...

Plant micropropagation has been adapted in the fields of agriculture, horticulture, forestry, and other related fields for large-scale production of elite plants. The use of liquid media and adoption of bioreactors have escalated the production of healthy plants. Several liquid-phase, gas-phase, temporary immersion, and other modified bioreactors h...

Textile effluents being one of the major reasons for water pollution raises major concern for water bodies and the habitation surrounding them. The lack of biologically safer treatment solutions creates a major concern for the disposal of these effluents. The present study focuses on the degradation of textile dyes using leaf extract of Artemisia s...

The Asteraceae family is one of the largest families in the plant kingdom with many of them extensively used for significant traditional and medicinal values. Being a rich source of various phytochemicals, they have found numerous applications in various biological fields and have been extensively used for therapeutic purposes. Owing to its potenti...

Since ancient times, Morinda species, particularly Morinda citrifolia, have been used for their therapeutic benefits. Iridoids, anthraquinones, coumarins, flavonoids, lignans, phytosterols, and carotenoids are examples of natural substances with bioactivity. Anthraquinone derivatives are the most significant of these chemicals since they are utiliz...

Introduction: The most significant industrial utilization of carbon disulfide (CS2) has been in the manufacture of cellulose rayon, cellophane, and rubber industry. CS2 prompts expanded recurrence of chromosomal variations in laborers occupationally exposed to CS2. Materials and methods: In the current study, the DNA analysis was carried out fro...

Agricultural industry is facing huge crisis due to fast changing climate, decreased soil fertility, macro and micronutrient insufficiency, misuse of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and heavy metal presence in soil. With exponential increase in world's population, food consumption has increased significantly. Maintaining the production to consu...

The Rubia genus includes major groups of medicinal plants such as Rubia cordifolia, Rubia tinctorum, and Rubia akane. They contain anthraquinones (AQs), particularly alizarin and purpurin, which have pharmacological effects that are anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anticancer, hemostatic, antibacterial, and more. Alizarin and purpurin have been util...

Considering the exclusive environmental conditions and geological characteristics, Indian flora is extensive and rich in medicinal plants. From primeval times, plant parts and their metabolites have been widely explored for various practices including medicinal as well as culinary. The phytochemicals present in these plants are potential reducing a...

Cosmostigma cordatum (Poir.) M.R. Almeida, a plant belonging to the family Apocynaceae, has not been explored for its phytochemistry and antioxidant properties. Dried samples of leaves were used to estimate the proximate and mineral composition. Distilled water, methanol, and ethanol extracts were analyzed for the quantification of phenolic compoun...

The present study aims to report the proximate and mineral composition, phenolic contents, and antioxidant potential of Artemisia stelleriana leaves. The leaf extracts were prepared using various solvents like distilled water, methanol, ethanol, and acetone and analyzed for their phenolic and flavonoid contents and antioxidant activity. The methano...

The azo dyes released into water from different industries are accumulating in the water bodies and bioaccumulating within living systems thereby affecting environmental health. This is a major concern in developing countries where stringent regulations are not followed for the discharge of industrial waste into water bodies. This has led to the ac...

The physico-chemical characteristics, fatty acid composition and antioxidant capacities of Artemisia pallens seed oil were determined in this study. The moisture, oil content, fatty acid, iodine, peroxide, saponification values, specific gravity and refractive index were 4.13 %, 25.53 %, 1.84 % (as oleic acid), 138.14 (mg/ l00 g), 10.20 (meqO2/kg o...

Proximate, mineral, and phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of solvent extracts of mature green and ripened fruit pulp of Cordia myxa were determined. The fruit pulp was high in protein and low in fat; nitrogen, potassium, and calcium were the major minerals present. The higher amounts of phenols and flavonoids in the methanol extrac...

Plants are the reservoirs of various valuable secondary metabolites like camptothecin, podophyllotoxin, and ginseng saponins which are used as anticancer agents. Plant cell and organ cultures are competent to synthesize and accumulate many of these compounds and can be used as a source for extraction of such compounds. Different strategies have bee...

The phenolic and flavonoid concentration and antioxidant and antibacterial activities of Plectranthus rotundifolius tuber extracts in petroleum ether, chloroform, and methanol were determined. The methanol extracts had the highest recovery and demonstrated the highest antioxidant potential and efficacy against the clinical bacterial strains tested...

In the present study crude Garcinia gummi-gutta seed oil was evaluated as a potential feedstock for biodiesel production. Due to the high acid value (29.73 mg KOH/g) the oil was converted to biodiesel by using acid catalyzed esterification process. Further, biodiesel properties of the sample were evaluated, which fulfilled the biodiesel specificati...

African mangosteen (Garcinia livingstonei T. Anderson) is native to Africa and is exotic to other parts of the world. It is a fruit bearing tree with multiple uses. This study was purposed to determine, by analysis, the chemical compositions and nutritive value of the fruits of African mangosteen. Proximate compositions varied with the portions suc...

The proximate composition of seeds, physicochemical characteristics, and fatty acid profiles of Ziziphus oenoplia seed oil were determined in this study. The seeds possessed low moisture (4.54%) and high carbohydrate (42.96%) and protein content (40%), making the seed oil suitable for storage and consumption. The saponification value (197.80) of th...

In the present study, extracts of Garcinia xanthochymus seeds were used to determine anti-diabetic, anti-oxidant, and biochemical activities in alloxan-induced diabetic mice. Of the petroleum ether (G. xanthochymus petroleum ether extract (GXSPE)) and methanol (G. xanthochymus methanol extract (GXSME)) seed extracts, 100 and 200 mg/kg were used and...

An effective protocol for in vitro propagation was developed for Artemisia japonica using nodal explants. The efficiency of the explants to induce the multiple shoots on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10 µM of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA), indole-3-butyric acid (IBA), 1- napthalene acetic acid (NAA), 2,4-dichloro...

The present study revealed that the latex of Garcinia morella (Gaertn.) possessed 204.27 mg/g phenolic acid and 124.92 mg/g of flavonoid content along with other phytochemicals. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC–MS) revealed the presence of 20 compounds in the latex, with the major compounds identified as 5-Oxohexanenitrile (18.7%), phenol,...

A reliable protocol has been established for in vitro propagation of Artemisia nilagirica var. nilagirica (Indian wormwood), a valuable medicinal plant from India. A highly proliferating organogenic callus was obtained on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with 2.5 µM IAA when nodal explants were cultured on MS medium supplemented with va...

Garcinia xanthochymus (Gamboge) is a fruit yielding tree belonging to the Clusiaceae (Guttiferae) family and is naturally distributed in South East Asian counties. The plant has been used in traditional medicine for treatment of various ailments. Various experimental studies have been carried out during the past decade for the isolation and extract...

The chemical analysis of Garcinia morella seeds and seed oil have been carried out in order to determine the possibility of using them as a source of food and industrial oil. Proximal analysis showed that the seeds had a high amount of carbohydrates and were rich in oil (38.08 g/100g) but have low protein content. The physical properties of the oil...

The proximate, physicochemical, and fatty acid compositions of seed oil extracted from khat (Catha edulis) were determined. The oil, moisture, crude protein, crude fiber, crude carbohydrate, and ash content in seeds were 35.54, 6.63, 24, 1.01, 30.4 %, and 1.32 g/100 g DW respectively. The free fatty acids, peroxide value, saponification value, and...

Garcinia indica is an endemic fruit-yielding tree which is naturally distributed in the Western Ghats regions of India. It is also cultivated as a plantation crop. It is dioecious tree with a long vegetative phase (10 – 12 years). There are no morphological or biochemical markers to differentiate the sex of individual trees before they reach maturi...

The physicochemical and fatty acid compositions of seed oil extracted from Thunbergia fragrans were determined. The oil content, free fatty acids, peroxide value, saponification value and iodine value were 21.70 %, 2.25 % (as oleic acid), 9.6 (mequiv. O2/kg), 191.71 (mg KOH/g) and 127.84 (g/100 g oil) respectively. The fatty acid profiles of the me...

Key message We have developed sex-specific SCAR marker for the identification of dioecious Garcinia gummi - gutta (L.), which is useful for the selection of G. gummi - gutta at seedling stage and for plantation programmes. Abstract Garcinia gummi-gutta (L.) Robs. is a dioecious fruit yielding tree, which is naturally distributed as well as cultivat...

IntroductionGarcinia morella (Gaertn.) Desr. (family Clusiaceae) is popularly known as ‘Indian gamboge’ is a fruit yielding tree of tropical rain forests of Western Ghats of India (Anonymous 1956). It also occurs in Sri Lanka and Indo-China Himalayan regions. It is a multipurpose tree grown as a plantation crop along with Garcinia indica (Kokum) an...

Most flowering plants are hermaphroditic with both stamens and carpels in the same flower. Other sexual systems are derived from ancestral hermaphroditism through one of the following pathways namely via monoecy, directly from hermaprhoditism, via gynodioecy, via distyly or via androdioecy. Sexual system in the genus Garcinia is highly diverse and...