The whole fruit extract of Vitex agnus-castus is thought to act on follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone levels in the pituitary to increase progesterone levels. Vitex supplementation appears to cause an increase in estrogen levels, as well. In ovariectomized mice, Vitex supplementation attenuated learning and memory loss associated with low levels of estrogen, even causing an increase in estrogen receptor mRNAs. Along with Vitex agnus-castus, hops and red clover were shown to bind to estrogen receptors in human breast cancer cells. Ginseng and licorice root showed some downstream estrogenic activity, though they did not bind to estrogen receptors. These plants have been commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine for menopausal symptoms, but their role as estrogen analogues also make them promising for attenuation of acne.It is accepted that acne has some microbial etiology, though the exact pathology is not known. Typical treatments, like benzoyl peroxide and antibiotics, target this component of the condition. However, there are several plant-based antimicrobials that could be viable alternatives, especially in combination with other dietary changes that address insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial in India with fifty-three patients between 14 and 28 years old tested Ayurvedic plant extracts for safety and efficacy. Study subjects had mild to moderately severe acne exhibiting a minimum of 10 inflammatory lesions and five non-inflammatory lesions . Plant extract tablets containing a mixture of Aloe barbadensis, Azadirachta indica, Curcuma longa, Hemidesmus indicus, Terminalia chebula, Terminalia arjuna and Withania somnifera were formulated. The study found the combined treatment of tablets and topical formulation of the plant extracts showed better results than the tablets alone, plant pot with drainage but the oral preparation was more efficacious than the topical alone.
The Ayurvedic formulation was also evaluated for in vitro antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activity. Azadirachta indica contains many essential oils that have antipyretic and anthelmintic properties. Additionally, it was shown to help control biliary secretion. Some Indian foods including Curcuma longa and Azadirachta indica have been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects by suppressing Propionibacterium acnes-induced reactive oxygen species and pro-inflammatory cytokines. This direct anti-inflammatory property is considered to be the basis for the clinical effect of these plants in treating acne. Sunder Vati is an Ayurvedic herbal formulation containing various herbs such as Holarrhena antidysenterica, Emblica officinalis, and Zingiber officinale. A double-blind placebo-controlled trial of oral Sunder Vati suggested that the formulation is efficacious for the treatment of acne. Subjects treated with oral Sunder Vati had a 60% reduction in their lesion count. Gugulipid is made from the sap of the Commiphora mukul tree, which is native to India. Gugulipid has been traditionally used alone or combined with other herbs for the treatment of a variety of ailments, including rheumatism, arthritis, skin diseases, and obesity. A randomized study treated twenty patients with nodulocystic acne with either tetracycline 500 mg or gugulipid 25 mg for three months. The results of the study demonstrated that both groups had a reduction in acne lesions . Interestingly, patients with oily faces responded remarkably better to gugulipid. This study suggests that gugulipid extract may replace tetracycline in the treatment of acne given its equivalent efficacy, improved safety profile and lack of antibiotic resistance. Gugulipid is a potent hypolipidemic agent. Apart from its hypolipidemic activity, a large number of therapeutic activities like antimicrobial, anthelmintic, anti-inflammatory, anti-arthritic, and antioxidant have been reported.Native to East Asia, Drosophila suzukii has been a major invasive pest of soft-and thin-skinned fruits since it was first detected in 2008 in North America and Europe and has been found recently in South America. Drosophila suzukii is highly polyphagous, being able to oviposit and/or reproduce in various cultivated and wild fruits.
Its fast development and high reproductive potential can lead to explosive population increases and significant economic losses to crops. Though various management strategies, including behavioral, biological, chemical and cultural approaches, have been implemented to suppress D. suzukii populations and reduce crop damage, current control programs rely heavily on insecticides that target adult flies in commercial crops. Because non-crop habitats can act as a reservoir for the fly’s reinvasion into treated crops, area-wide Integrated Pest Management strategies that reduce population densities at the landscape level need to be developed for such a highly mobile and polyphagous pest. To develop area-wide programs, it is critical to understand how D. suzukii populations persist and disperse in the landscape as the season progresses. Many environmental factors, such as local climatic and landscape traits, may trigger the dispersal of D. suzukii populations to escape resource-poor habitats or unfavorable weather conditions. Landscape composition surrounding cultivated crops, such as forests and shrub vegetation, could act as sinks, sources, shelters or overwinter sites for the fly populations. For this reason, the availability of alternative hosts could play an important role in sustaining fly populations and dictating their local movement patterns when favorable hosts are not available. Researchers have provided a better understanding of local D. suzukii population dynamics. Still, there are gaps that limit our understanding of the relative importance of different hosts for D. suzukii within some geographical regions. For example, the seasonal periods of host utilization and the importance of non-crop hosts within the agricultural landscape need to be understood to develop area-wide programs. In this framework, this study aimed to illustrate the temporal dynamics of host use by D. suzukii in California’s San Joaquin Valley, one of the world’s major fruit growing regions. Drosophila suzukii was first detected in California when it was found infesting strawberries and cranberries in Santa Cruz County in 2008. Since then, damaging populations have been recorded from cherries, cranberries, mulberries, raspberries and strawberries, mainly in the coastal or northern California fruit growing regions with relatively mild summer. In comparison, California’s interior San Joaquin Valley has hotter summers and colder winters, and while D. suzukii is collected in cherry, citrus, fig, grape, kiwi, mulberry, nectarine, peach, persimmon, plum and pomegranate as well as in non-crop habitats surrounding the orchards, reported crop damage has been mainly on cherries. Adult fly captures show two main periods of activity—spring and fall—and low captures in winter and summer. The number of captured flies was positively related between pairs of sampled sites based on their proximity, but it was negatively related to differences in fruit ripening periods among crops, suggesting that fly populations might move among crop and/or non-crop habitats during the year . Though adult flies are captured in various orchard crops, it is not clear whether these fruits are vulnerable and serve as hosts. For example, the potential impact of D. suzukii on wine grapes in Italy was discussed by Ioriatti et al., who observed D. suzukii oviposition in soft-skinned berries, and, in Japan, some grape cultivars were reported as hosts for D. suzukii.
In Oregon, Lee et al. found that D. suzukii was able to successfully oviposit in some wine grape cultivars but that offspring survival was low , whereas other studies observed no or low levels of infestation of intact grapes in the field or laboratory. Some of the initial work in Japan reported that D. suzukii emerged only from fallen and damaged apple, apricot, loquat, peach, pear, persimmon and plum, but Sasaki and Sato reported that healthy peach fruit can be infested. However, in California, Stewart et al. reported that intact peach fruit are unlikely hosts. No doubt, growing blueberries in pots many fruits with hard or hairy skin can be colonized if wounds are available to allow flies to oviposit in the pulp. In this study, we document the temporal patterns of host use by D. suzukii in California’s San Joaquin valley by sampling intact and damaged fruits of various crop and no-crop plants throughout the fruiting season. We evaluated the suitability of key fruits, including several unreported ornamental and wild host fruits as hosts for the fly, particularly focusing on the host status of grapes—considered to be a non-preferred host—and cherry—considered to be a preferred host. Wine grapes can contain uniquely high levels of organic acids that are important for producing wines less susceptible to microbial and oxidative damage and with more vibrant color . The levels of acidity decrease as fruit are ripening, but they remain high throughout the ripening process. For this reason, we also examined the impact of tartaric acid concentrations on the fly’s fitness. For cherries, we examined the effects of cultivar and fruit size on the fly’s performance. We additionally monitored adult fly populations at different elevations—from the Valley floor east to the foothills and Sierra mountains—to determine if the fly is active at higher elevations during the hot summer when the fly populations were extremely low in the Valley’s agricultural areas. We discuss the implications of this information for area-wide management in the San Joaquin Valley.A total of 17 common fruits were sampled in a temporal sequence of fruit ripening, including twelve important crops , three ornamentals , and two wild host plants . Samples were taken from 2013 to 2015 at the University of California’s Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center, near Parlier, California and near Brentwood, California . Ornamental fruits were also collected in riparian areas surrounding agricultural crops near Bentwood. Bitter cherry, Prunus emarginata Eaton , and the Cascara buckthorn, Frangula purshiana are endemic to western North America; these fruits were collected at higher elevations 1683 m near Shaver Lake, California . For all species, both intact fruit and damaged fruit were collected as available, as the fruit were at a susceptible ripening stage for D. suzukii oviposition. A total of 30–50 fruit were collected when at a susceptible ripening stage for each species, although the number of intact ornamental and wild fruits varied depending on the availability.Collected fruits were placed individually or in groups of 10–50 in deli cups and held under controlled conditions at the University of California’s Kearney Agricultural Research and Extension Center . Deli cups were covered with fine organdy cloth and fitted with a raised metal grid on the bottom to suppress mold growth. Emerged flies were collected every 2–3 d, frozen, and then identified as either D. suzukii or other drosophilids. Only those flies that emerged within 2 weeks following field collection were counted to exclude the possibility of second-generation flies.All laboratory studies were conducted under controlled conditions, as described above . A laboratory colony of D. suzukii was established from field collections of infested cherries at Kearney. The fly larvae were maintained on a standard cornmeal-based artificial diet using methods described by Dalton et al. , and adult flies were held in Bug Dorm2 cages supplied with a 10% honey–water solution and petri dishes containing standard cornmeal medium sprinkled with brewer’s yeast for feeding and oviposition. Field-collected D. suzukii were introduced into the colony yearly to maintain the vigor of the colony. All tests used 1–2-week-old adult female flies that had been housed with males since emergence .To determine if D. suzukii can oviposit within and develop from damaged or rotting navel oranges , a single adult female D. suzukii was exposed to a whole fresh fruit, halved fresh fruit, rotting whole fruit, or halved rotting fruit for 24 h in the acrylic cage. To simulate the natural decay process of a fallen orange, fresh oranges were placed individually on wet sandy soil in deli cups until the fruit started to rot. The halved fruit were allowed the same amount of time as the whole fruit but were cut into halves just prior to the test. On average, rotted fruit had 42.3 ± 7.3% of their surface covered by mold growth. Following exposure, the numbers of eggs laid were counted, and the fruit was then held in the cage until the emergence of adult flies. Each treatment started with 25 replicates; however, a few replicates were discarded because of contamination by other drosophilids that likely occurred during the regular examination for the decay status of the fruit. A sub-sample of 10 fruit was measured to determine the Brix levels of fresh and rotting fruits.To determine the possible effect of tartaric acid on D. suzukii survival and development, seven different concentrations of tartaric acid were mixed with a standard artificial diet. The powdered tartaric acid was purchased from a wine and beer brewing store in Fresno, CA, USA, and mixed with the diet just before the diet solidified.