Soil salinization is a severe abiotic stress that negatively affects plant growth and development, leading to physiological abnormalities and ultimately threatening global food security. The condition arises from excessive salt accumulation in the soil, primarily due to anthropogenic activities such as irrigation, improper land uses, and overfertilization. The presence of Na⁺, Cl - , and other related ions in the soil above normal levels can disrupt plant cellular functions and lead to alterations in essential metabolic processes such as seed germination and photosynthesis, causing severe damage to plant tissues and even plant death in the worst circumstances. To counteract the effects of salt stress, plants have developed various mechanisms, including modulating ion homeostasis, ion compartmentalization and export, and the biosynthesis of osmoprotectants. Recent advances in genomic and proteomic technologies have enabled the identification of genes and proteins involved in plant salt-tolerance mechanisms. This review provides a short overview of the impact of salinity stress on plants and the underlying mechanisms of salt-stress tolerance, particularly the functions of salt-stress-responsive genes associated with these mechanisms. This review aims at summarizing recent advances in our understanding of salt-stress tolerance mechanisms, providing the key background knowledge for improving crops' salt tolerance, which could contribute to the yield and quality enhancement in major crops grown under saline conditions or in arid and semiarid regions of the world.

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Diabetes mellitus is one of the major health problems in the world, the incidence and associated mortality are increasing. Inadequate regulation of the blood sugar imposes serious consequences for health. Conventional antidiabetic drugs are effective, however, also with unavoidable side effects. On the other hand, medicinal plants may act as an alternative source of antidiabetic agents. Examples of medicinal plants with antidiabetic potential are described, with focuses on preclinical and clinical studies. The beneficial potential of each plant matrix is given by the combined and concerted action of their profile of biologically active compounds.

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Medicinal plants have been used in healthcare since time immemorial. Studies have been carried out globally to verify their efficacy and some of the findings have led to the production of plant-based medicines. The global market value of medicinal plant products exceeds $100 billion per annum. This paper discusses the role, contributions and usefulness of medicinal plants in tackling the diseases of public health importance, with particular emphasis on the current strategic approaches to disease prevention. A comparison is drawn between the 'whole population' and 'high-risk' strategies. The usefulness of the common-factor approach as a method of engaging other health promoters in propagating the ideals of medicinal plants is highlighted. The place of medicinal plants in preventing common diseases is further examined under the five core principles of the Primary Health Care (PHC) approach. Medicinal plants play vital roles in disease prevention and their promotion and use fit into all existing prevention strategies. However, conscious efforts need to be made to properly identify, recognise and position medicinal plants in the design and implementation of these strategies. These approaches present interesting and emerging perspectives in the field of medicinal plants. Recommendations are proposed for strategising the future role and place for medicinal plants in disease prevention.

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Saponins are natural glycosides which possess a wide range of pharmacological properties including cytotoxic activity. In this review, the recent studies (2005-2009) concerning the cytotoxic activity of saponins have been summarized. The correlations between the structure and the cytotoxicity of both steroid and triterpenoid saponins have been described as well as the most common mechanisms of action.

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Environmental stresses including climate change, especially global warming, are severely affecting plant growth and productivity worldwide. It has been estimated that two-thirds of the yield potential of major crops are routinely lost due to the unfavorable environmental factors. On the other hand, the world population is estimated to reach about 10 billion by 2050, which will witness serious food shortages. Therefore, crops with enhanced vigour and high tolerance to various environmental factors should be developed to feed the increasing world population. Maintaining crop yields under adverse environmental stresses is probably the major challenge facing modern agriculture where polyamines can play important role. Polyamines (PAs)(putrescine, spermidine and spermine) are group of phytohormone-like aliphatic amine natural compounds with aliphatic nitrogen structure and present in almost all living organisms including plants. Evidences showed that polyamines are involved in many physiological processes, such as cell growth and development and respond to stress tolerance to various environmental factors. In many cases the relationship of plant stress tolerance was noted with the production of conjugated and bound polyamines as well as stimulation of polyamine oxidation. Therefore, genetic manipulation of crop plants with genes encoding enzymes of polyamine biosynthetic pathways may provide better stress tolerance to crop plants. Furthermore, the exogenous application of PAs is also another option for increasing the stress tolerance potential in plants. Here, we have described the synthesis and role of various polyamines in abiotic stress tolerance in plants.

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