Shipra Nagar

Trinity College Dublin | TCD · NatPro, the Trinity Centre for Natural Products Research

Acetylcholinesterase inhibitors remain the mainstay of symptomatic treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. The natural world is rich in acetylcholinesterase inhibitory molecules, and research efforts to identify novel leads is ongoing. Cladonia portentosa, commonly known as reindeer lichen, is an abundant lichen species found in Irish Boglands. The meth...

Myrica gale is an aromatic peatland shrub that has reported traditional use as an insect repellent. Different extraction methodologies were used in this study to isolate the essential oil of Myrica gale L., including Clevenger hydrodistillation (CH) and microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAH). The oils, isolated from different plant parts (leave...

Antarctic continent comprises diverse ecosystems like snow, glacier ice, sea ice, melt pools, glacial soils, supraglacial and subglacial lakes that accommodate numerous microbial and algal communities. These biotic groups secrete matrices of biomacromolecules called Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPSs), which enhance their ability to withstand...

A diverse range of molecules with anticancer, antiviral, and antibiotic activities has been identified and isolated from algal species. Such metabolites could address unmet clinical needs and be used to fight human diseases. Further, the natural compounds derived from algae present several advantages in terms of sustainable supply, low cytotoxicity...

Methylation has been the most widely used conventional tool in the structural characterization of polysaccharides. In the series of developments in methylation methods employing a diverse range of solvents and methylating reagents under basic conditions, the main emphasis relied upon inclusive solubilization of polysaccharides during the reaction p...

The recent explorations in the field of carbohydrate chemistry have unveiled a wide array of plant based bioactive oligosaccharides and polysaccharides which are potential candidates against cancer, diabetes, influenza, tumor, inflammation, thrombosis, infection etc. Due to strong binding abilities, hydrophilic nature and conformational flexibility...

Antarctica covers about 90% of world's ice and is the driest and windiest place on earth, with temperature varying between-10˚C to-60˚C. Despite austere conditions, diverse algal and bacterial communities thrive to sustain and play a vital role in the Antarctic coastal food web. They act as a source of Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPSs) in r...

Tinospora sinensis (Lour.) Merrill is of great therapeutic significance in Indian traditional medicine. Crude polysaccharides were isolated from methanol pre-extracted stems of dried material by successive extractions with cold water, hot water and NaOH (0.25 mol/L) in 0.98, 0.55 and 0.70 % yields respectively. Cold water soluble polysaccharides (C...

The leaf juices of A. sisalana Perrine ex Engelm (Agavaceae) are rich in steroidal saponins, of which hecogenin finds prime importance owing to its application in the synthesis of various cortical hormones (corticoids). However, the exceedingly close relationship of hecogenin with tigogenin, another steroidal sapogenin, makes the recovery and quant...

Polysaccharides containing uronic acids are of immense biological significance. Colorimetric methods using different chromogens have been explored for uronic acid estimation in polysaccharides but these methods counter numerous difficulties, when neutral sugars are present in substantial amount. The uronic acid content of cold water-soluble polysac...

Polysacharides containing uronic acids are of immense biological significance. Colorimetric methods using different chromogens have been developed for uronic acid estimation in polysaccharides but the methods counter numerous difficulties, when neutral sugars are present in significant amount. Tinospora sinensis has immense therapeutic importance....

The paper is deals with structural analysis of Tinospora sinensis with a view to study the structure-activity relationship. Tinospora genus is widely used in Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Indian and Chinese folk and medicinal systems, for a number of therapeutic applications. The structure of polysaccharide from Tinospora cordifolia has been extensively...

Cold water-soluble (CWSP) and hot water soluble polysaccharides (HWSP) from Tinospora cordifolia stems were isolated and purified in 2.99% and 1.99% yield respectively. Complete hydrolysis followed by paper chromatography and GLC analysis indicated the presence of l-rhamnose, l-arabinose, d-xylose, d-mannose, d-galactose and d-glucose in molar rati...

Tinospora genus is well known for curing numerous disorders including chronic fever, gouts, vomiting, cardiac debility, skin diseases, anemia, cough, jaundice, seminal weakness and leprosy. The genus is attributed to various therapeutic applications due to its wide spectrum of activities. The objective of the study is to investigate the structure o...

The genus Tinospora is attributed for wide spectrum of therapeutic activities leading to its broad usage in folk, Ayurvedic and Chinese system of medicine. Structural investigations of the genus ascertained the presence of diverse classes of compounds, ranging from diterpenoids, steroids, quartenary alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic lignans, phenyl p...

The paper discusses about the flavonoid profile in general and luteolin content in particular of some major wild edible plants of Northwestern Himalayan region and emphasize their therapeutic action with special reference to antioxidant and memory enhancing efficiency. Luteolin is one of the most common flavonoids present in edible plants and in pl...

Most alternative forms of medicine emphasize proper functioning of intestine as a foundation for good health. A clogged intestine is home to various toxins that cause nutritional deficiency and many other diseases. Natural laxatives are used to treat constipation and to assist in the normal peristaltic removal of undigested food from the intestines...

The paper presents an account of the work on preparation of sapogenin concentrate using facile, economic, simple and green methods with a view to utilize the abundant plant material for diverse pharmacological and biological applications. Agave sisalana, also known as sisal, is an herbaceous monocotyledonous plant from the Agavaceae family. The pla...

The paper deals with isolation of cold water soluble polysaccharides from Tinospora sinensis, determination of its structural backbone and derivatization for knowing the ratio of monosugars. Tinospora, a genus of deciduous woody climbers is well known for wide range of therapeutic applications in various traditional medicine systems across the worl...

Diabetes mellitus is such a devastating disease which involves almost all the systems of the human body, resulting gradual functional decay of different systems. The disease is a metabolic syndrome and is now recognized as the fastest growing threat to public health according to WHO. The frequency of coronary heart diseases, stroke and peripheral v...

Natural fibers are usually cellulosic elements that are extracted from trees, straw, bamboo, cotton seed, hemp, sugarcane and other sources. Now-a-days, natural fibers are the most widely used as biodegradable filler. Intrinsically, these fibers have a number of interesting mechanical and physical properties. With their environmentally friendly cha...

The paper highlights the potential of wood biomass as a source of commercially significant fine chemical and healthcare products. Besides conventional wood products like building materials, paper, resins, adhesives, coatings, roofing pitch, etc. and bioproducts including turpentine oil, rosin and cellulose derivatives, wood is a valuable raw materi...

Increased consumption of ‘ready to eat’ foods in modern lifestyle has resulted in several health problems. Natural health-protective and disease-preventive products are in great demand nowadays due to both consumers’ preference and health concerns. By-products of fruits and vegetables from commercialization and industrial transformation are an inte...

Leaf protein concentrate (LPC), a concentrated form of the proteins obtained from plant leaves has been assessed for human or animal food source, because it is potentially the cheapest, most abundant source of available protein. This has recently led to renewed interest in LPC to reduce the use of human-edible vegetable protein sources in animal fe...

Natural health products are in high demand due to changing consumer concerns and attitudes. Increasingly popular among them are functional foods and nutraceuticals that beyond their basic nutritional functions contain natural bioactive chemical compounds with scientifically proven properties to provide health benefits and/or prevent diseases. Novel...

Flavonoids represent a large group of secondary plant metabolites that are widespread in the plant kingdom. They are known to be synthesized by plants in response to microbial infection. It is, therefore logical that they have been found in vitro to be effective antimicrobial substances against a wide array of micro-organisms. A considerable amount...