Thymus serpyllum commonly known as Jawand in Kashmir is used as a culinary herb, as well as for aromatizing and traditional medicinal purposes. The word thyme is a general name for more than three hundred Thymus species, hybrids, varieties and ecotypes, all of which are small perennial herbs native to Europe and Asia. There are many traditions related to the tonic character of these plants. The Egyptians used it in embalmment. The Roman soldiers used to take a bath in water with thyme to provide vigour. Thyme oil was used as an antiseptic during World War I. Still today, thyme is used in the embalmment liquids, protects paper from mould, and is used to preserve anatomy and botany specimens. The present study confirmed that the plant Thymus serpyllum possesses significant in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activity and in vivo anti inflammatory activity.

-galactosidases belong to glycosyl hydrolase family of enzymes.These enzymes are widely distributed in nature. -galactosidases have been implicated in many biological functions like hydrolysis of dietary lactose, degradation of glycolipids and proteoglycans, fruit ripening, cell elongation, storage mobilisation and petal senescence. - galactosidase has proven as a best alternative for elimination of lactose intolerance.The present study was aimed at investigating the biochemical properties of -galactosidases from apricots.Three isoenzymes( -gal I, -gal II and -gal III) were obtained by salt fractionation and ion-exchange and Sephadex G-100 column chromatography. -gal I, II and III showed 0.39, 0.52 and 0.30 units of activity respectively. The molecular weight of -gal I, II an III as determined by gel filtration was found to be 44.15,34.70 and 23.71 KDa respectively. The optimum pH for the activity of different isozymes was between 4 and 6. The isoenzymes were determined to be thermally stable upto 40oC. The Km for -gal I was 1.85mM,1.7mM for -gal II and 1.19 for -gal III.The Vmax for -gal I, -gal II aand -gal III was found to be 0.52,0.70 and 0.38umole/min respectively.

Proteinase inhibitors (PIs) are small proteins that are quite common in nature. PIs are present in multiple forms in numerous tissues of animals and plants as well as in microorganisms. Serine proteinase inhibitors are widespread in the plant kingdom. The present study was at investigating the biochemical properties of protease Lavatera cashmeriane seeds. Four protease inhibitors LC-pi I, LC-pi II, LC-pi III and LC-pi IV were purified from the seeds of Lavatera cashmeriane by ammonium sulphate precipitation and ion-exchange chromatography on DEAE-cellulose column. All were strong inhibitors of trypsin, chymotrypsin and elastase. The molecular weight of LC-pi I, LC-pi II, LC-pi III, and LC-pi IV was found to be 20.89, 14.12, 16.78 and 7.94kDa respectively by gel filtration chromatography and 10, 14, 16 and 7kDa respectively by SDS-PAGE. The SDS-PAGE revealed that LC-pi I is constituted of two subunits of 10,000 Da each. The optimum temperature for the inhibitors was found to be 30 C for all inhibitors. LC-pi I showed strong antibacterial activity against Klebsiella pnuemoniea, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa but was less active against E.coli.

In biological system the generation of free radicals is a normal phenomenon. Sometimes these free radicals are generated in such an amount that the body's defense mechanism is not able to remove them and as a result stress is developed in the body. This process is called as the oxidative stress and may be defined as a shift in the prooxidant- antioxidant balance towards the oxidants or peroxidants. The free radicals are the chemical species which have unpaired electrons and are thus very unstable and reactive. In order to attain stability they react with their neighboring atoms to gain the electrons and as a result new free radicals are generated, which in turn attack the other nearby molecules causing a cascade of reactions. Aerobic organisms use oxygen to oxidize food and obtain the energy, a phenomenon essential for their sustenance. But during this oxidation process the oxygen molecule itself get reduced and form an intermediate called as the reactive oxygen species (ROS). The intermediates that are formed during the oxidizing process are hydro peroxide radicals (HO2), Superoxide radicals (O2-), Hydrogen peroxide radicals (H2O2) and hydroxyl radicals (OH )."

Zea mays (a C4 plant) can withstand high sulfur dioxide concentrations up to 12.0 ppm without any harmful effects. Visible injury symptoms appear only after exposure to sulfur dioxide concentrations beyond 12.0 ppm. The pigments, proteins, amino acids and starch decrease after exposure to higher concentrations of sulfur dioxide. The free sugars, however, increase in response to sulfur dioxide exposure. The activity of PEP - carboxylase is inhibited non -competitively with respect to substrates, PEP and Mg2+ but it is competitive with HCO3-.The high affinity of the enzyme for HCO3- renders the replacement by sulfur dioxide more difficult which results in decreased sensitivity towards sulfur dioxide. NADP - malate dehydrogenase is inhibited uncompetitively with respect to OAA and non - competitively with respect to NADPH. The low inhibitory effect of sulfur dioxide on the enzymes is indicated by high Ki values.In case of NADP - malic enzyme, sulfur dioxide shows a non - competitive inhibition with respect to NADP+ but a competitive one with respect to Mg2+. With respect to malate, the inhibition is partially competitive.