Ptolemy Journal of Chemistry (PJC)

Due to the beneficial effects of anthocyanins on plants, animals and human beings, they have become the most interesting topic of research for scientists. They are being used in food industry as well as in pharmaceutical and cosmetic industries. Anthocyanins are present in red, blue, orange, purple, violet and intermediate color mostly. They are non-hazardous natural pigments that have positive impact on human health. They occur in nature since the evolution of flowering plants on earth. As humans were wild in ancient times, they consumed their large concentration through their diet and human digestive system is very active for their digestion. In this review, the chemistry and impact of anthocyanins on human health is discussed briefly.

Banana is a commercially and nutritionally important food crop worldwide and is affected by several fungal diseases. The most important post-harvest disease is fruit rotting. Fruit rot is responsible for significant losses in banana. The present study was therefore, designed to isolate and explore the mycoflora associated with banana fruit rot. For this, infected samples were grown on different media to obtain pure cultures of isolated fungal pathogens. Identifications were made initially on morphological basis and then confirmed by genetic analysis. A comprehensive study of micro and macroscopic features revealed four Aspergillus species with two of Aspergillus fumigatus, one of Aspergillus flavus and one of Aspergillus niger. Genetic analysis by Nucleotide sequence analysis of ITS region of rDNA was performed. The sequence alignment of two different isolates of Aspergillus fumigatus showed 99% homology to different strains deposited in Genbank i.e., 004(KU321562.1), SK1(KM207771.1), and 98% homology to AHBR16(KF305755.1),  SF8(KX011021.1).

The anthelmintic properties and composition of an Italian traditional anthelmintic remedy based on a red algae mixture (RAE) was assessed using the egg hatch test (EHT). The ability of different dilutions \((1.0, 5.0, 50,\) or \(100%)\) of RAE was determined and compared with the positive and negative controls against gastrointestinal nematode (GIN) of donkeys. The experiment was performed in triplicate. Data were analysed using the ANOVA and Tukey test. In the mixture, Palisada tenerrima, Laurencia intricata and Laurencia spp. red algae were identified. The $100\%$ RAE was able to totally inhibit the egg hatch, showing an efficacy comparable \((P < 0.05)\) to that of the reference drug \((98.7%)\). An egg hatch reduction of \(89.5, 43.7\), and \(23.4%\) was observed at \(50, 5\) and \(1%\) dilutions, respectively. In conclusion, RAE was able to inhibit the egg hatch of GIN of donkeys in a concentration-dependent manner with a correlation coefficient \((R2)\) of $0.968$, corroborating with its anthelmintic effect.

In this research, we reported facile synthesis of efficient \(Ni_3Fe\) electrocatalyst nanostructures deposited on conducting carbon fibers surface by a simple chemical bath deposition method at moderate temperature. The composition, phase and electrocatalytic property of as-prepared binder-free electrocatalyst was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), and electrochemical measurements. The as-synthesized \(Ni_3Fe@t-CF\) presented excellent performance and durability as water oxidation electrocatalyst in alkaline electrolyte owing to non-segregated deposition of \(Ni_3Fe\) nanostructures on conducting surface of carbon, high electrochemical surface area, and the fast absorption and desorption of water molecules during oxygen evolution reaction due to the \(3D\) architecture of conducting interlaced carbon fibers template.

Couroupita guianensis Aubl. (Lecythidaceae) “Cannonball tree” is a tropical plant with ethnobotanical uses. The present study is focused on analyzing the essential oil composition of Couroupita guianensis (C. guianensi) fresh flowers collected in El Salvador. Steam distillation, coupled with GC/FID and GC/MS analysis were employed to characterize the chemical composition and in vitro antioxidant activity study were carried out using DPPH assay. Eugenol was identified to be the most abundant constituent and quantified as \(46.20\)% of the total volatiles. Other constituents were found to be \(2\)-phenylethanol \((34.82\)%), \((E)-(E)\)-farnesol \((5.53\)%), nerol \((3.95\)%), geraniol \((3.20\)%), benzyl alcohol \((1.77\)%). \(DPPH\) assay showed a dose-dependent antioxidant activity. The study demonstrated that C. guianensis essential oil from El Salvador is a rich source of eugenol, which may be responsible for its antioxidant properties. Based on these results, further studies on the antibacterial and antifungal activity of C. guianensis essential oil are of fundamental importance.

In this work, we present a newly three antimicrobial chitosan, 2-benzoxazinyl benzoic acid (BBA) and novel biopolymer of Chitosan-spiroquinazolinone (SQC) via coupling of chitosan with benzoxazinyl benzoic acid, for promoting the antimicrobial activity of inherent chitosan. Modification in the chemical structure of the synthesized product SQC was confirmed using FT-IR and UV analysis. The antimicrobial activities of Chitosan, and BBA compounds were expressively increased more than chitosan-spiroquinazolinone SQC. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of compound SQC was supposed at \(50\mu g/ml\) against tested microorganisms except for B.cereus and C.albicans. The highest concentration of Chitosan would prevent the growth of Gram-+ve upto 99%. However, compound BBA recorded the maximum inhibition percentage versus Gram-+ve approximately 82%. The findings emphasized that the developed Chitosan-Spiroquinazolinone SQC may be blocker for antimicrobial activity to pure chitosan and BBA i.e, stop reaction if possible for actions of antimicrobial treatments.

Glaucoma is a second leading cause of blindness worldwide and stands on fourth position among the cause of blindness. Two main types of Glaucoma, primary congenital Glaucoma (PCG) and primary open angle Glaucoma (POAG). Primary open angle Glaucoma is further classified in to primary juvenile open angle Glaucoma JOAG (age of onset 3-35 years) and adult onset open angle Glaucoma (after the age of 35 years). Myocilin (MYOC) gene plays a major role in the development of adult primary open angle Glaucoma (POAG). Mutations in Myocilin (MYOC) gene are well documented to cause Adult Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG). Currently, very few data is available on the contribution of Myocilin (MYOC) gene in POAG in Pakistani population. In present study, fifty seven sporadic cases of autosomal recessive samples of Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) were collected from different hospitals of Lahore, Pakistan. Sequencing was performed to check the contribution of (MYOC) gene and to identify the common mutations present in Pakistani population. Sequencing results revealed previously reported one heterozygous synonymous single nucleotide polymorphism SNP and a variant in intronic exonic boundary of exon 2. Findings of this study revealed that contribution of (MYOC) gene is high. Therefore, there is need to enroll more patients and families to identify the pathogenic mutations in (MYOC) gene to report actual frequency of this gene and its mutations in our population. Mutations identified in this gene may be helpful at clinical level to diagnose the disease at early stages.

We explore the possibility of using an iron-based anodic material (\(\alpha\)-hematite) synthesized with a hierarchical 3D urchin-like morphology, as an OER catalyst. The electrodes are prepared by pulsed laser deposition followed by thermal annealing leading to the hierarchical 3D urchin-like morphology. The effect of the deposition parameter on the catalyst phase and morphology are investigated by microRaman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy, while the electrode metrics are determined by voltammetric methods and Tafel analysis. We observe that the material is highly electroactive towards the OER, with performance in-line with that of noble-metal based state-of-the-art catalysts.

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectroscopy, commonly referred as NMR spectroscopy, is a widely used technique for determining the structure of organic compounds and metallorganic complexes. The NMR characterization process can be done automatically by specific tools integrated into the main NMR dedicated software, however it is commonly subjected to user’s interpretation therefore it still remains a manual process. In relationship with the number of signals to interpret and the complexity of the spectrum, the user usually spends between ten minutes and one hour to manually generate an NMR report, which can be clearly affected by typos or format mismatches. Here we report an Excel sheet-based NMR data reporting tool which, thanks to ad hoc macros, generates as output a formatted NMR report, ready to be directly pasted into any manuscript. ASpin tool leaves to the users the full possibility to interpret the spectrum in this way they can gain more experience in the interpretation process, without giving up the time saving.