Cycas

Incorporating the Kirtas system with the International Plant Names Index and SNOW-MED allows movement of the historic text into an electronic format, identihcation of current plant names, and identihcation of the symptoms treated with the plants. To complete the mining of historic herbal texts for novel drug leads we use the Natural Products Alert (NAPRALERT ) database to compare the information extracted from the historic herbal text to the reports of plant use in the current literature. The NAPRALERT database provides a summary of plants ethnopharmacological use, biochemical activities, and isolated compounds [27]. By querying each plant (with the current plant name) it is possible to identify any reports in the current literature regarding the plant. As an example, Table 4.1 shows the NAPRALERT output for Cycas rumphii. 

TABLE 4.1 Biological Activities for Compounds of Cycas rumphii... 

To generate this table NAPRALERT was queried for all biological activities of Cycas rumphii. The results of the Reference section correspond to the NAPRALERT M-coded references. 

Starch is one of the most abimdant plant polysaccharides and is a major source of carbohydrates and energy in the human diet (Zobel and Stephen, 1995). Starch is the most widely used hydrocolloid in the food industry (Wanous, 2004), and is also a widely used industrial substrate polymer. Total annual world production of starch is approximately 60 million MT and it is predicted to increase by additional approximately 10 million MT by 2010 (FAO, 2006b LMC International, 2002 S. K. Patil and Associates, 2007). Com/maize Zea mays L.), cassava (also known as tapioca—Manihot escu-lenta Crantn.), sweet potato Ipomoea batatas L.), wheat Triticum aestivum L.), and potato Solanum tuberosum L.) are the major sources of starch, while rice Oryza sativa L.), barley Hordeum vulgare L.), sago Cycas spp.), arrowroot Tacca leontopetaloides (L.) Kimtze), buckwheat Fagopyrum esculentum Moench), etc. contribute in lesser amounts to total global production. 

Source Formaldehyde naturally occurs in jimsonweed, pears, black currant, horsemint, sago cycas seeds (1,640 to 2,200 ppm), oats, beets, and wild bergamot (Duke, 1992). 

Some plants regularly eaten by humans contain neurotoxins that pose serious health problems. On Guam, for example, the seeds of Cycas circinalis used to be an important source of carbohydrates. Seeds of Cycas rumphii were ground into flour for tortillas. However, the seeds contain jS-N-methylamino-i-alanine, a suspected excitotoxin that overstimulates and destroys nerve cells. This compound causes a parkinsonism-like disease in macaques (Spencer et al, 1987). Other toxins have been proposed to be responsible for the disease, among them cycasin, another cycad toxin (Stone, 1993). 

Zhou, Y. et al.. New C-glycosylflavone from leaves of Cycas panzhihuaensis, Zhiwu Xuebao, 44,... 

Phosphorylation of the CycA-CDC2 complex at ThrlhO leads to a near 300-fold increase in protein kinase activity. Thrl60 of CDK2 hes in the activation segment (also known as the T loop) that blocks the access to the substrate binding site in the inactive... 

Cycas revoluta Thunb. Tie Shu (Sago palm) (leaf) Sotelsulflavone, hinokiflavone, amentoflavone.33 Promote blood circulation. 

Cassia siamea Lamark Cycas revoluta Thunb. 

Atractylodes chinensis, A. japonica, A. koreana, A. lancea, A. lyrata, A. ovata, A. macmcephala Cycas revoluta, Podocarpus macrophyllus, Selaginella tamarisina, Thuja koraiensis, T. orientalis,... 

Cases 5 and 6. —Detached and agglomerated grains of the pith of tho Cycas tircimtta—sago—th e length... 

The pith of the sago palm, Cycas circinalis, is used as food in India after preparation to remove toxic alkaloidal constituents that occur in this genus and in the Zamiaceae. 

Samples of Cycas circinalis, C. revoluta, and C. laiwaniana were alkaloid-negative. 

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