Mohamed G. Sheded’s research while affiliated with Aswan University and other places

This study explores the application of machine learning techniques to predict plant species richness (PSR) on islands, addressing the challenges of traditional modeling approaches. Eighteen machine learning models were compared using the PyCaret library, with Gradient Boosting Regressor (GBR) emerging as the most accurate predictor for PSR across 20 Nile River islands. The GBR model achieved impressive results, with metrics like R 2 of 0.996 and MAE of 0.376, demonstrating its effectiveness in capturing the complex relationship between environmental factors and plant diversity. The research highlights the significant influence of climate factors, particularly minimum temperature on PSR. They account for 60.3% of the variation in species richness. This comprehensive study showcases the potential of machine learning to significantly enhance our ability to predict and understand plant diversity patterns and it is considered one of the most comprehensive examinations of plant diversity trends to date.

The rate at which people are introducing species to formerly uninhabited places shows no signs of slowing down. Wild plants can roam freely across international borders. From September 2021 to June 2023, 45 field excursions were made to Egypt’s southern Nile Islands in the Aswan Governorate to undertake vegetation surveys. Depending on the literature reviewed and herbaria consulted during this study, three plant taxa, as well as one additional genus (Macroptilium), found during these field excursions were not previously recorded in the Egyptian Flora. These new records are Acanthospermum hispidum (Asteraceae), Geranium carolinianum (Geraniaceae), and Macroptilium atropurpureum (Fabaceae). These plants are classed as noxious weeds that harm agriculture. A complete description, occurrence and distribuion maps, plant photos and illustrations are provided. This study underlines the importance of carrying out extensive and ongoing research on the flora of Aswan’s Nile Islands to have a better knowledge of flowering plant distribution patterns. In addition, it might be regarded as a great starting point for expanding floristic knowledge of this interesting territory and its surroundings.

For the first time, methanolic leaf extract of the hydrophyte Persicaria senegalensis L. was evaluated for its ability to silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) biosynthesis. The effect of stirring time and plant extract concentrations was studied. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscope (SEM) were used for characterization of AgNPs. XRD confirmed the AgNPs formation with crystallite size in the range 23–71 nm. The crystallite size increased with increasing both stirring time and plant extract concentration. Antioxidants, including secondary metabolites such as flavonoids and phenols are substances that inhibit oxidative damage to the cell organisms by scavenging the free radicals and thus reducing the hazard of diseases. The scavenging and antioxidant activities of the plant leaf extract and AgNPs were evaluated and exhibited potent antioxidant activity. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of plant leaf extract and AgNPs was 52.41 and 10.13 µg AA equivalent/mg DW, respectively. Total phenolics (TPs) and total flavonoids (TFs), revealed high contents equal to 154.83 µg gallic acid equivalent and 100.05 µg quercetin equivalent/mg DW plant extract, respectively.

Natural resources, human and socioeconomic activities data were collected directly from human beings at the downstream and upstream parts of Wadi Allaqi. A survey of Bedouin living in this wadi was undertaken using an open-ended questionnaire to gain information about the best general critical factors that controlling the natural recourses of economic activities and their type, only for men bediouns, furthermore, grazing intensity was estimated. Domestic and wild animals can graze and browse on 58.8% of the total recorded species in Wadi Allaqi. As well as the highly palatable species, some camels can graze over 20 plant species that are usually avoided by other animals. About 38% species in the study area have low palatability, 16.5% species are unpalatable and 13.4% are known to be browsed by camels with some exception (Crotalaria aegyptiaca which is poisonous to goats and sheep). Sheep and camel herding, charcoal production, small-scale cultivation, and medicinal plant collections developed a system by Bedouin near Nasser Lake. Out of 93.3% of Bedouin reported that Lake Nasser fluctuation affected their production. Some 13.3% of Ababda and 26.8% Bishari Bedouins agree that the second key which effect their life is the rainfall incidence. Key wards: Wadi Allaqi, grazing intensity, sustainable uses, Socioeconomic activities, palatability

The present study analyses plant diversity and evaluates the relationship between edaphic variables and the distribution and grouping of plant species in the Aswan Reservoir area, South Egypt. The dominant families were Fabaceae, Poaceae, and Asteraceae, forming 38.82% of the total flora recorded. The main bulk of the flora recorded (50.59%) belonged to the cosmopolitan, neotropical, pantropical, and palaeotropical chorotypes. A TWINSPAN analysis produced 10 vegetation clusters. Inundation levels showed a high correlation with species richness. The seasonally inundated area in Bute El-Hasaya and Maezana Belal (cluster V) had the highest species richness (36.50), while the lowest species richness (4.50) was in the shoreline of Philae, Awad, and Heisa islands (cluster IX). The DCA ordination depicted the environmental gradient expressed by the cluster analysis, and the resulting vegetation groups represented a distinct microhabitat. The CCA ordination indicates that the separation of vegetation group (A) along the axis was affected by the concentration of K, Mg, and CO3, and the vegetation group (B) was significantly associated with the total dissolved salts and the concentration of Cl. Moreover, the vegetation group (C) correlated significantly with pH, electrical conductivity, organic matter content, and SO3, HCO3, PO4, Na, and Ca concentrations.

The chemical composition of hydrophytes is affected by many environmental and physiological factors. The content of certain nutrients and micro components in the tissues of four hydrophytes, Persicaria senegalensis L., Ceratophyllum demersum L., Potamogeton crispus L. and P. perfoliatus L., was investigated over four seasons. These hydrophytes were collected from different sites in the Nile River in Aswan subjected to domestic-like, industrial and agricultural pollutions and non-polluted conditions. The plant tissues were digested and nitrate (NO3-), phosphate (PO43-), sulfate (SO42-), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), chloride (Cl-), fluoride (F-) and bromide (Br-) were measured using atomic absorption spectroscopy. The distribution of the different hydrophytes was related to different levels or types of pollution. Persicaria senegalensis was the most tolerant of the pollution conditions that appeared in all sites during all seasons. Both pollution and seasonal variability affected the concentration of different nutrients in the tissues of the studied hydrophytes. In general, the concentration of all nutrients increased in the polluted conditions. The concentrations of NO3- and PO43- were low comparing to other nutrients in both water samples and plant tissues. The highest concentrations of SO42- were detected in summer for all studied hydrophytes. The highest concentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ in P. senegalensis were measured in autumn and spring, respectively. The seasonal maxima of the concentrations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ of C. demersum, P. crispus and P. perfolitas were detected in winter, spring and autumn, respectively. In conclusion, Persicaria senegalensis was proven to have the widest range of tolerance of water quality, suggesting it could be a more reliable bio-indicator than the other three hydrophytes.

Metabolomic profiling, antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial activity of three parts (leaves, male parts and fruits) of the Medemia argun palm were evaluated. Secondary metabolites content showed a significant difference among the evaluated parts. Multivariate data analysis (MVDA) classified the parts into three groups based on their metabolomic profiling and the total antioxidant capacity (TAC) of their extracts. The highest content of secondary metabolites, particularly in the leaves and fruits, was reflected in the DPPH radical scavenging activity and consequently in the IC50 of their extracts. The leaves and fruits extracts showed the lowest IC50, followed by the male parts extract (62.8, 78.9 and 134.4 µg/ ml, respectively). Individual polyphenols were also determined by HPLC, which revealed the dominance of rutin, spigenin-7-glucoside, vanillic and rosmarinic acids, and kaempferol in the leaves. p-hydroxybenzoic, caffeic, syringic, sinapic, and cinnamic acids and chrysin were the dominant polyphenols in the male parts extract. Ferulic acid, luteolin and apigenin were the dominant polyphenols in the fruits extract. Medemia argun extracts showed very strong antiproliferative activity against hepatocellular carcinoma (HepG-2) and lung cancer cell lines (A549). Of the three parts that showed very strong antiproliferative activity, the male parts extract showed prominent antiproliferative activity against HepG-2, while the leaves extract showed more Ital. J. Food Sci., vol. 32, 2020-929 prominent activity against A549 (IC50 was 0.587 and 1.038 µg/ml, respectively). The leaves and fruits extracts showed antimicrobial activity against Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive bacteria) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Gram-negative bacteria). The male parts showed moderate antibacterial activity only against B. subtilis. No extracts affected the growth of Escherichia coli, Candida albicans and Aspergillus flavus. The biological activity of the M. argun palm will be discussed in the light of secondary metabolites content in the plant. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study concerning the biological activity of M. argun.

This study investigated the metabolic content and biological activities of Hyphaene thebaica leaves, male parts and fruits methanolic extracts. The phytochemical constituents were determined, and multivariate data analysis discriminated the evaluated three parts into three groups according to the content of phenolics, flavonoids, flavonols, saponins, anthocyanins and tannins. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) profiling of polyphenols revealed the dominance of catechins, rutin and apigenin-7-glucosides in leaves, protocatechuin, p-hydroxybenzoic, syringic, vanillic, rosmarinic, p-coumaric acids and chrysin in male parts, and chlorogenic acid in fruits. Leaves and male parts showed stronger free radical scavenging activity than the fruits. Positive correlations between total antioxidant capacity and carbohydrates, phenolics and flavonols were observed. The three extracts exhibited potent anti-cancer activity against liver and lung carcinoma cell lines. All extracts exhibited antibacterial activity, while only fruits showed antifungal efficacy. In conclusion, H. thebaica leaves, male parts and fruits contain a variety of phytochemicals with antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial activities.