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<ol> <li>Establish in vitro cultures of Ginkgo, Purple Coneflower, Goldenseal and selected other medicinal plants; <li>Evaluate the active ingredient production by in vitro and in vivo cultured plant material as a function of morphological development, <li>Assess biological activity in selected bioassays.</ol>
In vitro cultures will be established from different explants (seedlings, shoot tips, embryos, etc.); micropropagation protocols will be established. Active ingredients (when known) will be extracted and analyzed via HPLC or GC-MS. Extracts and purified preparations will be subjected to bioassays including: antiviral (plaque reduction, dye uptake, enzyme-immunio assay), antibacterial (diffusion or hole-plate method in combination), antitumor (potato tuber disc assay) and general toxicity (brine shrimp toxicity assay).