Hyphaene Thebaica Case Study

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1. Introduction Substantial evidence has accumulated and indicated key roles for reactive oxygen species (ROS) and other oxidants in causing numerous disorders and diseases. The evidence has brought the attention of scientists to an appreciation of antioxidants for prevention and treatment of diseases, and maintenance of human health. Antioxidants are compounds that inhibit or delay the oxidation of other molecules by inhibiting the initiation or propagation of oxidizing chain reactions. There are two basic categories of antioxidants, namely, synthetic and natural. In general, synthetic antioxidants are compounds with phenolic structures of various degree of alkyl substitution, whereas natural antioxidants can be phenolic compounds (tocopherols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids), nitrogen compounds (alkaloids, chlorophyll derivatives, amino acids, and amines), or carotenoids as well as ascorbic acid (Larson, 1988; Hudson,1990; Hall and Cuppett, 1997). The antioxidant property of the plant material is due to the presence of many active phytochemicals including vitamins, flavonoids, terpenoids, carotenoids, cumarins, curcumins, lignin, saponin, plant sterol and etc.…show more content…
It is known in Egypt as the Doum or gingerbread palm which grows to 6 or 9 m and usually has forked stems with fan shaped leaves, 65–75 cm long. It is listed as one of the useful plants of the world (Fletcher, 1997). The trunk of the palm is used for construction, as well as for manufactureof various domestic utensils and the leaves are used to make mats, bind parcels and writing paper. The oblong, yellow-orange apple sized fruit has a red outer skin, a thick, spongy and rather sweet fibrous fruit pulp (mesocarp) that tastes like gingerbread and a large kernel. The fleshy mesocarp of the fruits are eaten and the juice of H. thebiaca (Doum) is popular in Egypt and believed to be good for

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