Abdullatif Azab
Carobway Ltd, Israel
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Neurol Neurophysiol
Carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.) is one of the most widespread medicinal plants in the Mediterranean area. Traditionally, it was cultivated for its nutritional and medicinal benefits, especially from its fruits (pods). The phytochemical constituents of Carob (Ceratonia siliqua L) showed therapeutic medical importance especially concerning neurotoxicity which represents the major public health problem. Carob extracts showed in vitro neuroprotective effect of carob (Ceratonia siliqua L.) pulp (wild and cultivated varieties) at the unripe and ripe stage was investigated through testing against Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and Butyrylcholinesterase (BChE), linked to Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Some studies indicated that the extract of unripe carob may provide a substantial source of secondary metabolites, which act as natural antioxidants and as AChE inhibitors that may be beneficial in the treatment of AD. Other studies that pure natural products isolated from Carob, such as D-Pinitol, or combinations of them (polyphenols) can also provide potential therapy for AD, memory loss and dementia.
Abdullatif Azab was born and lives now with his family in A’ra, Israel. He completed his high school studies in Hadera, BSc and MSc in Chemistry, and PhD in Medicinal Chemistry, all in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In addition, he studied many related courses, in Israel and overseas. He won the neuroscience excellence award. His career is diverse and included long chemistry teaching experience, medicinal plants research and director in the chemical industry. This resulted in publication of several research and review articles, of which two were about Carob. He also presented his work in some international conferences, where one of these presentations was about medicinal activities and health benefits of Carob. He is fluent in Arabic and Hebrew and English.
