Biology, Medicine, & Natural Product Chemistry
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Effect of Ethanol Extracts of Musa paradisiaca Fruit Pulp and Peels on Haematological Indices and Liver Enzymes of Experimental Rats
Get PDFMedicinal plants usage in traditional medicine has risen over the years. Musa paradisiaca has been reported that it possesses various therapeutic efficacies. This study is aimed at evaluating the effect of parts of the ethanol fruit extracts of Musa paradisiaca on haematological indices and serum liver enzymes. Thirty Wistar rats were grouped into five groups of six animals each which were administered 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of Musa paradisiac fruit (MPF) pulp extract or peel extract. Haematological indices and liver enzymes were assayed for at the end of the 14-days experimental period. MPF pulp and MPF peel at 400 mg/kg showed a significant (P0.05) increase in haemoglobin concentration in the treated rats as compared to the control. There was also a non-significant (P>0.05) change in AST, ALT, and ALP level of the treated rats as compared to the control. Fruit pulp and peel of Musa paradisiaca improve erythrocytes count and haematocrit level, and they may not be associated with liver toxicity
Ethnobotanical Study of Edible Plant Communities on the Slopes of Mount Merapi and Merbabu, Indonesia
Get PDFEthnobotany is a study of the interaction between local people and their natural environment, especially regarding the use of plants as food and medicinal ingredients. Edible plants are a daily basic need whose existence is a necessity for the people on the slopes of Mount Merapi and Merbabu. How to use plants is transferred from generation to generation to form a culture. The research was carried out in March-May 2020 with the aim of digging local knowledge about plants used as food, including staple food, vegetables and medicines by studying the species diversity, including the benefits of plant parts, habit, how to use, process and how to obtain these species. The data were collected by using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods with in-depth interviews through 40 respondents who were selected by purposive sampling. The results showed that the communities on the slopes of Mount Merapi and Merbabu used 74 plant species from 37 families as food sources. The favorite family is Fabaceae, followed by Zingiberaceae and Solanaceae. The most widely used habitus of plants were herbs (36.49%), followed by bush (28.38%), shrubs (18.92%) and trees (16.22%). Plant parts that are widely used are leaves (29.73%), fruit (17.57%), tubers (10.81%), seeds (9.46%), roots, rhizomes and flowers (6.76%), shoots (5.40%), stems (2.70%) and water, skin and heartwood (1.35%). The most common ways to use it are eaten raw as vegetables (29.73%), boiled (16.22%) and drink (12.16%). How to obtain it are through own cultivation (72.97%), and buying at the market (21.62%). The highest use values were Adas (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) (0.25), chili pepper (Capsicum annum L.) (0.20), turmeric (Curcuma dosmetica loir) and water spinach (Ipomoea aquatica Forsk.) (0.17). The highest importance values were rice (Oryza sativa L.) (5.23%), and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare Mill.) (4.57%)
Antibacterial Screening of Bacterial Isolates Associated with Mangrove Soil from the Ngurah Rai Mangrove Forest Bali
Get PDFIn this study we reported cultivation of bacteria associated with mangrove soil from the Ngurah Rai Mangrove Forest, Bali. Mangrove soil samples were serially diluted using sterile artificial seawater, spread onto Starch Casein M agar and incubated at 28oC for 28 days. Cultivation of mangrove soil samples yielded 165 bacterial colonies with 68 isolates were selected and purified based on different morphology. Of these 68 isolates, 22 isolates displayed antibacterial activities ranging from weak to strong inhibition against at least one of four bacterial indicators namely Staphyloccocus aureus, Streptococus mutans, Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae using perpendicular streak method. Overall, 19 out of 22 bacteria isolates displayed weak antibacterial potential and two isolates exhibited moderate antibacterial activity. The isolate SA4 was the only bacterium with strong antibacterial potential with measured clear distance ≥ 10 mm against the four bacterial isolates. Sequence analysis based on 16S rRNA gene fragment assigned the isolate SA4 as Bacillus subtilis strain BIL/BS-168. Overall, this study confirmed the untapped potential of antibacterial activities from bacteria associated with mangrove soil
Extraction, Phenolic Content and Hydrogen Peroxide Scavenging Capacity of Extracts from Some Honey Samples, Propolis and Bee Pollen
Get PDFHoney and propolis is natural food, produced by honey bees (Apis mellifera) and largely used by the local population for its medicinal properties. Our work aims to extract and evaluate the hydrogen peroxide scavenging capacity of different phenolic extracts from some bee products. Phenolic compounds from honey samples, propolis, and bee pollen were extracted by methanol and subjected to radical scavenging activity towards hydrogen peroxide. The results showed the highest values for the total phenolic and total flavonoïd contents in propolis and bee pollen, and a great hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) inhibition (IC50: 0.205 - 2.210 µg/mL) with honey extracts, while sample “multiflower†is the better antioxidant, more than ascorbic acid used as control. The less scavenging activity was observed with the extract from bee pollen (IC50: 39.383 µg/mL). To combat the harmful effects of free radicals, especially reactive oxygen species including hydrogen peroxide, it is important to use phenolic extracts instead of using honey as it is, and extracts from the honey of different types are excellent antioxidants compared to other bee products
Hibiscus rosa-sinensis L. (red Hibiscus) Tea, Can It Be Used as A Home-Remedy to Control Diabetes and Hypercholesterolemia?
Get PDFAccording to traditional medicine, Hibiscus is used to treat hypertension, heart diseases and many other ailments. Commercially available Hibiscus tea is prepared with H. sabdariffa and is expensive. H. rosasinensis is the common variety which is abundant in tropical home-gardens, however the scientific data are lacking on the effects. The present review focuses on the available scientific data on the effects of H. rosasinensis on controlling diabetes and hypercholesterolemia. The endeavour was to identify whether H. rosasinensis flower petals as a ‘tea’ is effective for diabetic and hypercholesterolemic patients. Medical databases such as MEDLINE, BMC, BMJ, research gate, Mendelay literature search database, Google scholar and the general engine Google were searched from November 2018 to April 2019. Search was carried out using keywords such as “Hibiscus rosasinensisâ€, “antidiabetic effectsâ€, “antihyperlipidemic effectsâ€, “toxic effectsâ€, “anti-inflammatory effectsâ€, “phytochemicals in Hibiscus†etc. Data were critically analyzed to assess whether the effective doses of the research studies on a par with the doses present in H. rosasinensis teas. We found thirty-nine journal articles fulfilled the criteria. The data were categorized and extracted on uses of H. rosasinensis, anti-diabetic effects, anti-inflammatory effects, anti-hypercholesterolemic effects and its phytochemicals. The review revealed that the dose of H. rosasinensis petals present in a home-made Hibiscus tea is theoretically sufficient to elicit anti-hyperglycemic and anti-hyperlipidemic effects. Home-made Hibiscus tea is effective in controlling diabetes and hypercholesterolemia without causing acute toxicity
Cover, Editorial Board, Guidance for Authors, & Table of Contents | Vol. 10 No. 1 April 2021
No full textCover, Editorial Board, Guidance for Authors, & Table of Contents | Vol. 10 No. 2 October 2021
No full textA Simple Technique for Rapid Assessment of Rat (Rattus norvegicus) Sperm Motility
Get PDFAssesment of rat sperm motility can be carried out on sperm sample from epididimal source using minimal amount of equipment. This method will aid researcher and practitioner working in the field of sperm quality to determined rat sperm  motility rapidly and efficiently
Acute Toxicity and Hypoglycemic Effect of a Polyherbal Formulation on Blood Glucose in Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) and Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rats
Get PDFMadam F. Kayes Bitters® is an herbal formulation commonly used in Nigeria and some African countries in the management of diabetes mellitus and other diseases conditions. This study evaluated the in-vivo hypoglycaemic activity, as well as acute toxicity of the polyherbal formulation to provide its efficacy and safety. Healthy albino mice (20-30 g) and Sprague Dawley female rats (90-130 g) were used for this study. Acute toxicity study (LD50) of the herbal formulation was determined by methods originally described by Miller and Tainter in 1994. Following oral dosing with glucose (2 g/kg) in normal fasted animals, herbal formulation (HF) at various doses was administered and blood glucose levels at 30 minutes, 60 minutes, 90 minutes, and 120 minutes were taken and recorded. Diabetes was induced using alloxan 150 mg/kg and diabetic rats were given the HF at doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg with glibenclamide 2.5 mg/kg used as standard drug treatment. Blood glucose level was determined on 1st day, 7th day, 14th and 21st day. The LD50 was greater than 5g/kg with oral administration. The oral glucose tolerance test showed that the group that received 100 mg/kg HF showed a significant reduction (p<0.05) in glucose level after 120 minutes when compared to the basal level of glucose recorded. All treated diabetic groups showed a significant decrease in glucose level on the 21st day. The herbal formulation of Hydrastis canadesis Aloe capensis, Echinacea angustifolia and honey exhibited a significant glucose-lowering activity in alloxan-induced diabetic rats
Antibacterial Activity of Mangrove Root Extracts from Ngurah Rai Mangrove Forest, Denpasar-Bali
Get PDFThe increasing rate of antimicrobial resistance in the past decades has motivated the search for novel antibacterial compounds to overcome infectious diseases. Among diverse natural sources, mangrove ecosystems offer untapped sources of biological active compounds for future antibacterial medicine. This research was aimed to evaluate antibacterial activities of crude extracts of four dominant mangrove plants from the Ngurah Rai Mangrove Forest namely Rhizophora mucronata, Avicennia marina, Rhizophora apiculata, and Sonneratia alba. Roots of these four plants were extracted using methanol, chloroform, and n-hexane. These crude extracts were tested against two Gram positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus mutans) and two Gram negative bacteria (Escherichia coli dan Klebsiella pneumoniae) by disc difussion assay. We found that 3 mg/mL of N-hexane crude extracts from R. apiculata yielded the highest zone of inhibition of 8.64 mm against S. aureus. While, 3 mg/mL of chloroform crude extract of R. apiculata yielded the highest inhibition of 19.83 mm against S. mutans. Unfortunately, no zone of inhibition was observed when crude extracts were tested against Gram negative indicator strains. Our results indicate that the root crude extracts of R. apiculata yielded the highest zone of inhibition against Gram positive indicator strains compared to root crude extracts of R. mucronata, S. alba, and A. marina. Further research is required to determine the antibacterial activities of the mangrove crude extracts against other bacterial indicator strains to determine their spectrum of activities