Hassan Rammal

Recently, nutritional and pharmaceutical benefits of pomegranate have raised a growing scientific interest. Our present work aimed, for the first time, to investigate the importance of the Lebanese pomegranate molasses. For that, we determined the chemical composition of six samples of molasses provided from different sources to know their contents in secondary metabolites having medical importance. Then the antioxidant capacity has been evaluated for the six samples. Chemical composition of pomegranate molasses was determined using a standard phytochemical screening. Total phenolic and total flavonoids contents have been evaluated using the Folin-Ciocalteau reagent and the aluminum chloride method respectively. Finally, free radical scavenging activity of molasses was evaluated using DPPH assay. The obtained results of the phytochemical screening of molasses pomegranate indicated the presence of various secondary metabolites such phenols, flavonoids, resins, and saponin in the different studied molasses. Also, all samples showed a higher antioxidant capacity reaching 90 %. Considering properties of the identified major compounds with the higher antioxidant power of the studied samples, molasses pomegranate could be used in the medicine field including the food, pharmaceutical and cosmetic industry.

Using natural adsorbants for the removal of dyes from solutions may represent a new and effective method of dye control and treatment. In this study, the adsorption of methyl orange by Lebanese Eryngiumcreticum was evaluated. Removal rates of methyl orange were determined by UV-Vis spectrophotometry and the adsorption process was found to be affected by initial dye concentration, adsorbant concentration, and pH. Adsorption isotherms were also plotted and showed a type III isotherm at pH 2, and a type V isotherm at pH 10. The adsorption of Eryngiumcreticum was then compared to other synthetic adsorbants and was found to offer similar adsorption capacity to some.

Lebanese scabiosaprolifera(Carmel Daisy) was used to remove Pb (II) free ions from aqueous solutions. The adsorption process was found to be dependent on pH, Temperature, contact time, adsorbent dose and concentration. The maximum adsorption capacity was obtained at pH 5 after 1 hour at 25 ͦC. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms were employed to interpret the adsorption behavior, with a better fit to Langmuir. This adsorption is a spontaneous process with applicability to pseudo second order kinetic model. It was concluded that scabiosaprolifera is an effective, low cost and environmentally friendly adsorbent.

Plants are widely used by people in traditional and modern medicine all over the world. In fact, all of their remedies can be used safely and without the side effects of drugs. Phytochemical analysis of medicinal plants has revealed that numerous bioactive compounds in plants traditionally used for medicinal purposes have many therapeutically properties. Hence in the present study, a general chemical identification of a Lebanese medicinal plant Urtica dioica was carried out. The results obtained validate the traditional uses of nettle, and showed that this plant possesses an important pharmaceutical value and leads to the isolation and characterization of three compounds from hexane extract. Structures of these compounds were elucidated by spectral methods [FTIR, GC-MS, 1H NMR] after column chromatography on silica gel.