Page 21 - Annual Research Report 2018-19

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ACTIVITIES IN RESEARCH CENTRE

As a part of its mission to promote quality research and to become the hub of all Research

activities in the region, Dhofar University (DU) has setup a Research center in AY 2014-15. The
center focuses on few niche areas of Research of regional importance, dealt with in different

Research units. One of the unit is the ‘Frankincense, Medicinal plants & Biodiversity’ for which
a fully operational Research laboratory has already been setup and so far a number of projects

are in progress. In addition, this center is also aiming to develop skillful Omani scientists for the
future. Current domains of the Research are as follows but not limited to:

 Frankincense, Medicinal Plants, fungi & Biodiversity
 Development of novel nutraceuticals and herbal drugs

 Culture and Heritage

Research Activities & Projects

The Frankincense & Biodiversity unit is currently focusing on following research activities:

 Identification and authentication of medicinal plants and fungi
 Phytochemistry of medicinal plants and fungi

 Identification and characterization of fractions, extracts and pure compounds
 Blind pharmacological screening of raw herbal materials, extracts and molecules which

involves studying:
• Effects on CNS

• Antimicrobial and antiviral effect
• Analgesic and anti-inflammatory

• Anticancer effect
• Wound healing effect
• Toxicity of the active extracts and pure compounds

The Unit through the Vice Chancellor has signed MoU with leading national and international
Research centres, Industry partners and Universities making the total number of collaborations

twenty-two. The unit also published 34 publications in recognized international journals.
Currently the active research projects are:

 Chemical analysis of extracts obtained from Boswellia sacra using HPLC/MS/MS and

some other chemical techniques.
 In vitro anti-tumor activity to some extracts obtained from some plants growing in Dhofar

region such as Acacia Spp, Commiphora Spp, Jatropha Spp

11 Annual Research Report for AY 2018-19
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