Health Science, Science and Technology Reviews

The art and sciences of Tuina: From past to present

2025-08-06T15:38:28+07:00

Recently, alternative medicine was interested in its sciences, one of alternative therapy using the concept of patient center, and it was also holistic care. Chinese Tuina Massage has been one of the sciences on traditional Chinese medicine since the ancient era. The explicit knowledge of Chinese Tuina Massage has been developed continually has been around for a very long time, as evidenced by the scriptures “Huangdi Neijing”, the first traditional Chinese medicine textbook completely edited in Qin and Han Dynasty. Chinese Tuina Massage has been used to heal the disease in Ayurveda, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Pediatrics, Orthopedics etc. Additionally, there were investigations to apply Tui Na massage used in other areas of medicine including textbook of Chinese Tuina Massage was edited as considering the new information generated by treating various illnesses. The advantages were safety and disappearing of any side effects. Currently, Tuina is a popular alternative treatment as it restores balance to the body. It helps regulate the circulatory, nervous and muscular systems, relieves pain and promotes general health. It is also recognized by the World Health Organization for its effectiveness in treating disease.

This article aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the knowledge surrounding Tuina. Five key areas are covered: its history and development, underlying principles and practices, relevant theoretical frameworks, preparation for massage, and fundamental Tuina techniques. The discussion highlights the historical context, the theoretical foundations, and the systematic application of Tuina therapy in clinical practice.

Preliminary in vitro investigation of Litsea petiolata extracts for sustainable control of bacterial leaf blight in rice caused by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae

2025-03-12T11:22:16+07:00

Litsea petiolata, locally called Tham Mung, is widely distributed across tropical and subtropical regions of Asia, and North and South America. This plant is notable for its ecological significance and cultural relevance. Renowned for its rich secondary metabolites, especially phenolic compounds, L. petiolata has been studied for its medicinal and antimicrobial properties. This study investigates the phenolic content and antibacterial activity of ethanol and hexane extracts from the leaves and stems of L. petiolata, specifically targeting Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), the bacterium responsible for bacterial leaf blight in rice. High-performance liquid chromatography identified key phenolic compounds, including vanillic acid in the leaves and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid in the stems. The antibacterial efficacy of these extracts was evaluated using clear zone assays, minimum inhibitory concentration, and minimum bactericidal concentration testing. The results indicated that the ethanol extract from the leaves exhibited the most potent antibacterial activity, significantly inhibiting the growth of Xoo. These findings suggest that L. petiolata holds considerable potential as a source of natural antibacterial agents, offering an environmentally sustainable alternative to chemical treatments for managing bacterial diseases of rice.

Effect of biochar-amended soil substrates on the growth of chinese kale in an organic system

2025-04-09T16:16:44+07:00

Study of the effects of biochar-based growing media on the growth of kale. This study aimed to utilize agricultural waste for biochar production as an alternative to open burning, which is harmful to the environment. The experiment was designed using a completely randomized design (CRD) with 5 replications and 11 treatments. These treatments consisted of biochar produced from various types of agricultural waste, including
1) rice straw, 2) rice husk, 3) longan leaf, 4) longan peel, 5) longan branch, 6) jarul branch, 7) mango leaf, 8) corncob, 9) coffee husk, and 10) tobacco stem, which were mixed with commercially available growing media and cow manure in a ratio of 2:1:1 (growing media: biochar: cow manure).The study investigated the effects of different biochar types on the growth of chinese kale (Brassica alboglabra) in organic growing media. The results demonstrated significant improvements in growth parameters, including plant height, fresh and dry weight from substrate mixed with tobacco stems whereas the highest chlorophyll content was found in culture mixed with mango leaf biochar.
The incorporation of biochar into the soil culture boosted its chemical and biological properties. Biochars derived from jarul branches, tobacco stems, and corncobs led to higher pH, electrical conductivity, organic carbon content, and amounts of water-soluble phosphorus and potassium compared to the control. Additionally, coffee husk biochar recorded the highest microbial population, reaching 10.7 × 10⁵ CFU g^-1soil at harvest time. These findings highlight the potential of various biochar as effective amendments for improving soil fertility and promoting plant growth in organic farming systems.

Antiproliferative activity of pomegranate peel extracts against colorectal cancer cells

2025-05-27T09:54:01+07:00

Pomegranate peel (Punica granatum) exhibits diverse biological activities including antioxidant anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, pomegranate peel has been reported as a potential treatment for cancer. This study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxicity and anti-cancer effects of two pomegranate peel extracts (ethanolic extract; PPE1 and commercial extract; PPE2) on HCT116 colorectal cancer cell line. The cell viability was assessed using the trypan blue exclusion assay. The results demonstrated that both PPE1 and PPE2 exhibited cytotoxic effects against HCT116 cells at increasing concentrations (25-200 µg/ml) and times dependent manners (24-48 h). At 24 hours, there was 50% cell death at concentrations more than 200 µg/ml. Additionally, at 48 hours, both PPE1 and PPE2 extracts at 200 µg/ml exhibited approximately 50% cell viability. We evaluated cell-proliferation and self-renewal abilities using the MTS and clonogenic assays. The result revealed that treatment of HCT116 with PPE1 (25-100 µg/ml) caused a statistically significant reduction in cell number (p<0.05) compared to the untreated control group. Treatment with PPE2 also resulted in a decrease of the cell number (p<0.05). Interestingly, both PPE1 and PPE2 significantly decreased the number and size of cellular colonies. These findings demonstrate that pomegranate peel extracts exhibit cytotoxicity and effectively inhibit the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells (HCT116). Pomegranate peel extract has promising potential for future development as a natural anticancer agent.

Effects of medium components on in vitro multiplication efficiency of Siam tulip

2025-06-19T11:31:49+07:00

Siam tulip (Curcuma alismatifolia) is a significant economic ornamental plant in Thailand. A commercial production of Siam tulip should mainly use disease-free rhizome to avoid disease accumulation, which could affect the export of Siam tulip’s rhizomes. Therefore, the enhancing efficiency of tissue culture of Siam tulip for disease-free and quality-consistent in plant production is another approach to improve the quality of Siam tulip production for export capacity. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of cytokinins and nutrient concentrations in MS medium, by using shoots harvested from cv. Red Shadow and cv. Khao Yai as explant for the experiments. The results showed that the 4 mg/L of N6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) resulted in the highest shoot multiplication of cv. Khao Yai and 5 mg/L of BAP gave the highest shoot multiplication of cv. Red Shadow. While Kinetin resulted in the increasing of length of explants. Moreover, the reduction of nutrient concentration in MS medium to 0.5 times and the increase of sucrose concentration to 2 times or 6% provided the highest shoot multiplication. While reducing the nutrient concentration in MS medium to 0.25 times decreased the growth of both cv. Red Shadow and cv. Khao Yai.

Effects of preharvest applications of calcium lactate and calcium chloride on the growth, yield and postharvest quality of sunflower microgreens

2025-06-30T14:57:00+07:00

The objective of this research was to study the effects of pre-harvest spraying of calcium on the growth, yield, and postharvest quality of sunflower microgreens. The experiment was designed using a Factorial in Completely Randomized Design with two factors: 1) Two types of calcium (calcium lactate and calcium chloride, CaCl₂) and 2) Five levels of calcium concentration (0, 0.04, 0.4, 0.8, and 1.6%). Calcium solutions were daily sprayed to sunflower microgreens during 4-6 days after seed sowing and microgreens were harvested at 7^th days, packed in plastic tray and stored at low temperature (10±2°C 80±2%RH) for 24 days. Results indicated that type of calcium had no significant effect on plant height, shoot weight, root length, or leaf length. However, it significantly affected on yield that spraying with calcium lactate solution causes sunflower microgreens to have higher yield than CaCl₂ spraying. Regarding calcium concentration, the 0.04 and 0.4% resulted in higher yield than the other levels. As for the postharvest quality during 24 days at low temperature storage, calcium spraying has been shown to slow down weight loss and maintain quality. Sunflower microgreens sprayed with calcium lactate solution have a lower weight loss than CaCl₂ solution, and in addition, calcium solution at 0.40 and 0.04% reduce weight loss, slow down leaf color change, and reduces bruising and decay of leaves and has better overall quality than other treatments, When considering interaction between calcium type and concentration levels, it was found that calcium lactate at 0.04 and 0.4% had higher yield and lower weight loss than the other treatments, as well as the lower production costs and higher profit than the other treatments.

Effect of a slime knee poultice on knee pain relief in osteoarthritis patients attending the Thai Traditional Medicine Clinic at Phra Ajarn Mun Bhuridatto Hospital, Sakon Nakhon Province

2025-07-08T15:29:32+07:00

Knee osteoarthritis was important problem in middle age and elderly people, which caused cartilage degeneration of knee, leading to structure of joint abnormalities. Pain relief in the field of Thai traditional medicine used herbal poultices, however the method had complex process and the problem of stained clothes. The researcher applied slime poultices. The objective of this research was to compare before and after average knee pain of the effectiveness of slime poultices in knee osteoarthritis patients to admitted in Thai traditional medicine clinic, Phra Ajarn Mun Bhuridatto Hospital. The sample consisted of 44 knee osteoarthritis patients. Research instruments include the data record of patients, the VAS scale assessment and Oxford Knee Score assessment. The samples were passed the inclusion criteria, who received slime poultices of knee 15 minutes. These methods are used 1 time/day for 3 days, every other day: Monday, Wednesday, Friday and received poultices of knee 15 minutes. The results of research were statistically analyzed with SPSS Statistics ver.27, using Paired Simple T-test.

The result was found that after experiments using slime poultices: the experiment group had average score of Knee Score represented 29.64+4.46 score, which was higher than before experiment. The compare of average level of severity of Knee osteoarthritis before and after experiment was found that the average score after experiment was high level, pain score was decreased statistically significant at p<0.05 and found that the effectiveness of slime poultices had average of pain score was decreased, when compared with before experiment statistically significant at p<0.05. The different average pain scores of left knee joint, right knee joint and both sides were 1.86 scores, 1.78 scores, 1.93 scores, respectively. Slime poultice could apply with treatment and people have another option for basic health care of themselves.