Bombax ceiba (Cotton tree) is a tree from the Malvaceae family that grows in Malay, Indonesia, China, Hong Kong and Taiwan [28]. It is covered with thorns and it's known by Tibetans as "salmari" [27], but most commonly known in Europe and America as cotton tree or tree cotton [28]. Its red flowers have five petals and were commonly used as herbal tea in China. The name Cotton tree derives from the cotton-like fiber that covers the Cotton tree seeds and that were also used in the past as a cotton substitute.

Bombax ceiba has risen the interest of scientists and researchers since some of the active constituents and phytochemicals found on this plant are known to exert many beneficial effects. Some of them, as for example apigenin, a well-known anti-cancer agent, or Luteol, a triterpene with many health benefits among which we can mention its anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, anti-mutagenic, anti-malarial [20] and anti-plasmodial [22,23,24,25] properties. 

But this plant is also known to contain other active constituents that deserve special attention for their properties and health benefits, let's have a look at some of them.

BOMBAX CEIBA

Family: Malvaceae
Genus: Bombax
Common name: Cotton tree, tree cotton, Bombax malabaricum, Salmalia malabarica.

Clerodendrum capitatum (Clerodendron), a plant native from Tropical African region that belongs to the Verbenaceae family, locally known as "Gung" in Sudan [1], "Pipe Tree" [2] and Mashayi[4], that grows between 0.2 to 2 meters high, could be the new source of a new family of natural PDE5 inhibitors, the cellular enzymes used as a base for some of the most famous drugs for the treatment of erectile dysfunction, as Sidenafil, used for its vasodilatory and PDE5 inhibitory properties.

In Nigeria, Clerodendrum capitatum (Clerodendron)is used to treat diabetes mellitus, obesity, and hypertension [10], and in Sudan it has been used for the treatment of erectile dysfunction [1,8,9], however and due to its vasodilatory and PDE5 inhibitory effects it may well be the new source of drugs against erectile dysfunction.

CLERODENDRUM CAPITATUM

Family: Verbenaceae
Genus: Clerodendrum
Common name: Gung [1], Pipe tree [2], Mashayi [4].

For the first time in history Dutch scientists from Utrecht University were able to produce the basic chemical blocks from which plastic is made, lower olefins.

Lower olefins are the basic "Lego" building blocks present in plastics, cosmetics and drugs, and are made of two or four carbons produced by steam cracking of crude oil-derived naphtha, however oil reserves are not eternal and other sources for lower olefins were since long ago being investigated.

Utrecht University scientists are closely working with Dow Benelux, a chemical company that has already showed interest in the discovery and who'll probably be able to use such an innovative new technology for the production of organically developed plastics.

There in the mountains, in the north-east of the Himalayas, grows a plant, Hydrangea, commonly known as Hortensia, that may have helped scientists and researchers from Harvard School of Dental Medicine to find the answer on how to treat autoimmune disorder, an inappropriate immune response of the body against substances and molecules naturally present in our bodies [7], but mistakenly confused by our natural defenses with external pathogens, as in Lupus or psoriasis.

The researchers, lead by Malcolm Whitman, professor of developmental biology at Harvard School of Dental Medicine discovered that one of the active constituents found in the roots of Hydrangea, the halofuginone, blocked the development of Th17 cells, a type of cells present in many autoimmune disorder cases [5]. But why did their research focused on Hydrangea?

DICHROA FEBRIFUGA (HYDRANGEA)

Family: Hydrangeaceae
Genus: Hydrangea
Common name: Hortensia, Chinese:  常山, Pinyin: chángshān, Ji Gu.

INDIAN HEALTH CARE SYSTEM

Indian health care industry is rapidly growing and expected to reach over 280 billion USD by 2020 [6,7], however the Indian public health system is still poorly funded [5], and access to medicines and treatments is not always easy and affordable, one of the reasons, in spite not the only one, for many patients to search cures and treatments for their ailments and symptoms in traditional medicinal systems.

Ayurvedic traditional medicine is one of them, and among some of the herbs used to treat common ailments and illnesses we find one, Curculigo orchioides, that deserves special attention for its properties.

CURCULIGO ORCHIOIDES

Family: Hypoxidaceae
Genus: Curculigo
Common name: Xian mao, black musli, Kala musli, Hemapuspi, Talamulika, Mosali [13,19], Golden Eye-grass [19].

Curcumin (diferuloyl methane), the phytochemical extracted from Curcuma longa root and the turmeric isoflavone exerting antioxidant, anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects used since centuries ago in Ayurvedic medicinal treatments and as a spice in many traditional Indian and also European dishes, has shown promising results on the treatment of tumor growth castration-resistant on androgen deprivation prostate cancer patients, as a study from Jefferson's Kimmel Cancer Center shows [1].

CURCUMA LONGA

Family: Zingiberaceae
Genus: Curcuma
Common name: Turmeric