Advancement in Medicinal Plant Research

Number 1, 2014

1-6
Traditional pharmaceutical recipes from a metabolomics perspective: Interviews with traditional healers in Mali and comparison with modern herbal medicines

Authors: Matteo Politi and Lelia Pisani

Abstract

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Number of views: 469

Scientific data on traditional pharmaceutical recipes are largely missing in the literature, despite the relevance of this information within the process of herbal medicine preparation; the chemistry of the finished product in fact, can be dramatically affected by the recipes adopted. A fieldwork on the topic of traditional pharmaceutical recipes was performed in Mali; traditional and modern practices to prepare herbal medicines were compared. The nascent scientific discipline named metabolomics identify a new paradigm in natural product chemistry. Under the umbrella of metabolomics, the traditional practices recorded during the field survey in Mali were interpreted from a biochemical perspective and presented in this paper. Keywords: Medicinal plants, herbal medicines, traditional healer, ethnopharmacy, ethnochemistry, inter-kingdom communication.

7-15
Antidermatophytic activities of column chromatographic fractions and toxicity studies of Pergularia tomentosa L. and Mitracarpus scaber Zucc used in the treatment of dermatophytoses

Authors: S. A. Shinkafi

Abstract

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Number of views: 455

This research was conducted on antidermatophytic activities of column chromatographic fractions and toxicity studies of Pergularia tomentosa and Mitracarpus scaber used in the treatment of dermatophytoses. Column chromatographic fractionation of Pergularia tomentosa and Mitracarpus scaber (leaves) was investigated. The column revealed five (5) fractions, each of N- hexane and chloroform extracts. These fractions were HX1 to HX5 and CHL1 to CHL5 respectively. The antidermatophytic activities of the column fractions was tested, showed that (CHL4) and (CHL1) were active against T.rubrum, T. mentagrophyte and M. gypseum at 10 mg/ml. The results of toxicity studies of the plants carried out on experimental rabbits indicated that the infected rabbits treated with hexane and chloroform extracts of the two plants were effective on treatment at concentration of 10 mg/ml. A very slight erythema was observed only on rabbits treated with hexane extract of M. scaber. From the results it can be concluded that the two extracts of P. tomentosa and M. scaber exhibited strong antidermatophytic activities against most of the isolates tested more than the conventional antifungal drug (Griseofulvin). The high quantities of saponins and flavonoids components of the two plants might be responsible for their activities. The results of animal testing showed that the plants (leaves) extracts are safe for topical application on the skin as claimed by traditional healers. Keywords: Antidermatophytic activities, column chromatography, toxicity studies, plants, dermatophytoses.

16-19
Nutritional and biochemical properties of Malaysian okra variety

Authors: Emmanuel Chika Nwachukwu, Nulit R and Rusea Go

Abstract

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Number of views: 569

The nutritional and biochemical contents of Malaysian okra fruits and leaves were studied by analysing the nutritional contents in the fruits and leaves such as protein, carbohydrate, moisture, oil, ash and fibre, while the biochemical contents in the fruits and leaves such as chlorophyll, phenolics and flavonoids were also analysed. The result of the proximate analysis revealed a significant difference (p < 0.05) among the fruits and leaves with highest percentage of crude protein (4.81%) and ash (2.44%) were present in the leaf. Mature fruits contain highest percentage of fiber (2.44%), oil (0.4%) and carbohydrate (11.7%) respectively, while the young fruits showed highest moisture contents of 88.47%. The results of the biochemical analysis showed significant differences (p < 0.05) among the fruits and leaves with the highest total chlorophyll content in mature leaves (32.99 mg/1 g). The total highest phenolics content was found in young leaves (0.99 mgTNE/1 g) and the total flavonoid was highest in mature leaves (0.79 mgQE/1 g). This paper showed that nutritional and the biochemical contents of okra were higher in the leaves than in the fruits. Keywords: Biochemical, chlorophyll, phenolics, flavonoids, nutritional.