ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN SOUTHWESTERN PART OF NIGERIA AS ANALGESICS

The gradual threat to plants and the inevitable disappearance of the aged Traditional Medical Practitioner are posing an impending time limit for people to learn, acquire, and document the rich medical cultural endowment.  This cultural endowment is essential for the benefit of all Africans and indeed the entire mankind. Hence, the urgent need for continual ethno-botanical survey of medicinal plants in Nigeria. Ethnobotanical survey was carried out using structured questionnaire to obtain information from trado-medical practitioners from Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Lagos States.  Samples of eleven commonly used plants were collected and authenticated at the Forest Herbarium Ibadan, where voucher specimens were deposited. Extracts of each plant (leaf, root or seeds) were obtained by soxhlet extraction using methanol, diethyl ether and water, concentrated and screened for phytochemical constituents using standard procedures. Thirty-one plant species belonging to 24 families are being used as analgesics, of which Macrosphyra longistyla, Strophanthus hispidus, Buchholzia coriacea, Calliandra portoricensis, Secamone afzeli, Chasmanthera dependens, Spilanthes filicaulis, Moringa oleifera, Clerodendrum volubile, Petiveria alliacea, Carpolobia lutea were prevalent. Methanol and diethyl ether extracts of the plants contained alkaloids, saponins, tannins, phenols, anthraquinones and glycosides while, aqueous extracts contained alkaloids, saponins and glycosides. &nbsp

Synthetic Biology: Mapping the Scientific Landscape

This article uses data from Thomson Reuters Web of Science to map and analyse the scientific landscape for synthetic biology. The article draws on recent advances in data visualisation and analytics with the aim of informing upcoming international policy debates on the governance of synthetic biology by the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice (SBSTTA) of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. We use mapping techniques to identify how synthetic biology can best be understood and the range of institutions, researchers and funding agencies involved. Debates under the Convention are likely to focus on a possible moratorium on the field release of synthetic organisms, cells or genomes. Based on the empirical evidence we propose that guidance could be provided to funding agencies to respect the letter and spirit of the Convention on Biological Diversity in making research investments. Building on the recommendations of the United States Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues we demonstrate that it is possible to promote independent and transparent monitoring of developments in synthetic biology using modern information tools. In particular, public and policy understanding and engagement with synthetic biology can be enhanced through the use of online interactive tools. As a step forward in this process we make existing data on the scientific literature on synthetic biology available in an online interactive workbook so that researchers, policy makers and civil society can explore the data and draw conclusions for themselves

ETHNOBOTANICAL SURVEY AND PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF MEDICINAL PLANTS USED IN SOUTHWESTERN PART OF NIGERIA AS ANALGESICS

The gradual threat to plants and the inevitable disappearance of the aged Traditional Medical Practitioner are posing an impending time limit for people to learn, acquire, and document the rich medical cultural endowment.  This cultural endowment is essential for the benefit of all Africans and indeed the entire mankind. Hence, the urgent need for continual ethno-botanical survey of medicinal plants in Nigeria. Ethnobotanical survey was carried out using structured questionnaire to obtain information from trado-medical practitioners from Ogun, Oyo, Ondo and Lagos States.  Samples of eleven commonly used plants were collected and authenticated at the Forest Herbarium Ibadan, where voucher specimens were deposited. Extracts of each plant (leaf, root or seeds) were obtained by soxhlet extraction using methanol, diethyl ether and water, concentrated and screened for phytochemical constituents using standard procedures. Thirty-one plant species belonging to 24 families are being used as analgesics, of which Macrosphyra longistyla, Strophanthus hispidus, Buchholzia coriacea, Calliandra portoricensis, Secamone afzeli, Chasmanthera dependens, Spilanthes filicaulis, Moringa oleifera, Clerodendrum volubile, Petiveria alliacea, Carpolobia lutea were prevalent. Methanol and diethyl ether extracts of the plants contained alkaloids, saponins, tannins, phenols, anthraquinones and glycosides while, aqueous extracts contained alkaloids, saponins and glycoside &nbsp