Providing some pharmacopoeial standards for the leaves of two closely-related Alstonia species

Background: Alstonia boonei De Wild. and Alstonia congensis Engl. (Apocynaceae) are commonly used by the indigenes of Nigeria to treat malaria and other ailments.Objective: This study has examined the leaves of A. boonei and A. congensis with a view to providing some pharmacopoeial standards for identification and development of their individual monograph.Materials and Methods: Macroscopic and microscopic studies were carried out on the leaves of A. boonei and A. congensis with the use of light microscope, while the proximate and fluorescence analyses were carried out according to standard World Health Organization specifications.Results: The leaves of A. boonei and A. congensis were coriaceous. The quantitative microscopy of the leaves showed the upper epidermal cell lengths for A. boonei and A. congensis as 32.5 ± 0.56 (μm) and 38.5 ± 1.8 (μm), while palisade ratios were 5.2 ± 0.4 and 3.7 ± 0.2, respectively. The stomata numbers of A. boonei and A. congensis were 5.0 ± 1.2 and 1.8 ± 0.3, respectively. The stomata length and width of A. boonei, respectively, were 24.5 ± 0.5 (μm) and 22.0 ± 1.2 (μm), while those of A. congensis, respectively, were 35.0 ± 0.8 (μm) and 28.0 ± 3.0 (μm). The vascular bundle in A. boonei was arc-shaped with xylem vessels standing in isolation but assuming a U-shape in A. congensis with xylem vessels interlocking to form a crown-like connection. Vein-islet number of A. boonei (9.0± 0.7) was slightly more than that of A. congensis (8.8±1.8). Total ash values and moisture contents of the leaves of A. boonei and A. congensis were 8.5 ± 0.01 and 6.8 ± 0.03; and 9.1 ± 0.04 and 9.9 ± 0.02, respectively.Conclusion: The foliar epidermal and anatomical characters presented in this study are useful for differentiating between the two closely-related species, Alstonia boonei and Alstonia congensis. The established characters in each of the species could be incorporated into the next editions of the Nigerian and West African Herbal Pharmacopoeias.Keywords: Alstonia spp., Pharmacopoeia, Microscopy, Proximate analysis, Organoleptic evaluatio

Potential Phytopharmacy and Food Applications of Capsicum spp.: A Comprehensive Review

Capsicum genus (Solanaceae) is native to the Americas. Today, it is an important agricultural crop cultivated around the world, not only due to its economic importance, but also for the nutritional value of the fruits. Among their phytochemical constituents, capsaicinoids are characteristic and responsible of the pungency of sharp-tasting cultivars. Moreover, Capsicum and capsaicinoids (mainly, capsaicin) have been largely studied because of their health benefits. Thus, this study reviews the scientific knowledge about Capsicum spp. and their phytochemicals against cancer, diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, pain, and metabolic syndrome, as well as their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity. These bioactivities can be the basis of the formulation of functional ingredients and natural preservatives containing Capsicum extracts or isolated compounds

Review - TRADITIONAL MEDICINE DEVELOPMENT FOR MEDICAL AND DENTAL PRIMARY HEALTH CARE DELIVERY SYSTEM IN AFRICA

Traditional African Medicine (TAM) is our socio-economic and socio-cultural heritage, servicing over 80% of the populations in Africa. Although, it has come a long way from the times of our ancestors, not much significant progress on its development and utilization had taken place due to colonial suppression on one hand, foreign religions in particular, absolute lack of patriotism and political will of our Governments, and then on the other hand, the carefree attitudes of most African medical scientists of all categories. It is incontrovertible that TAM exhibits far more merits than demerits and its values can be exploited provided the Africans themselves can approach it with an open mind and scientific mentality. The degree of sensitization and mobilization by the World Health Organization (WHO) has encouraged some African countries to commence serious development on TAM. The African Regional Director of the WHO has outlined a few guidelines on the responsibilities of all African nations for the realistic development of TAM, in order to sustain our health agenda and perpetuate our culture. The gradual extinction of the forests and the inevitable disappearance of the aged Traditional Medical Practitioner should pose an impending deadline for us to learn, acquire and document our medical cultural endowment for the benefit of all Africans and indeed the entire mankind

Investigation on the antimalarial properties of Plumeria alba Linn (apocynaceae) cultivated in Nigeria

Many of the African antimalarial ethno medicinal plants are good sources of promising antimalarial compounds. The stem bark of Plumeria alba Linn, was evaluated for in vivo chemosuppressive antimalarial activities in order to identify the most active solvent  fraction from which antimalarial constituents can be isolated. The stem-bark of Plumeria alba Linn, family Apocynaceae was   collected, air-dried, powdered, macerated in methanol and the extract concentrated in vacuo. The acute toxicity study was   performed on the extract using Lorke’s method. The extract was thereafter tested for chemosuppressive antiplasmodial activities against Plasmodium berghei berghei NK65- infected mice using Peter’s four-day test at doses 100-800 mg /kg with normal saline (0.2 ml) and chloroquine (10 mg/kg) as negative and positive control drugs respectively. The average percentage parasitaemia, percentage chemosuppression and effective doses (ED50 and ED90), the survival times and percentage survivors elicited in all the  mice were  determined as indices of antimalarial activity. The active extract was  subsequently partitioned successively into n-hexane, dichloromethane, ethyl acetate and butanol. The respective partitioned fractions with the aqueous phase were also tested as above at doses 0-80 mg/kg. All results were  subjected to statistical analysis using ANOVA with Student Newman Keul’s post hoc test. Crude extracts of P. alba gave considerable reduction of percentage parasitaemia up to 200 mg/kg. The percentage  chemosuppression at all doses, were significantly higher (p<0.05) than the negative but lower than the positive control with 200 mg/kg dose showing the highest activity of 65.88 %. The effective doses, ED50 and ED90 were  305.82±9.99 and 389.74± 9.60, respectively. The most active n-hexane partitioned fraction elicited a percentage chemosuppression of 67.75 and a significantly lower (p<0.05) ED50 and ED90 of 31.27±0.85 and 54.80±1.75 mg/kg. The butanol and ethyl acetate partitioned fractions gave significantly higher (p<0.05) survival time value than those of the crude extract, other partition fractions and the positive control, while the n-hexane, dichloromethane and the aqueous, just like chloroquine, gave high percentage survivors. The study concluded that Plumeria alba stem-bark extract was active as an antimalarial drug with its antiplasmodial and the survival time–enhancing activity concentrated in the n-hexane and ethyl acetate with butanol partitioned fractions respectively, thus confirming and justifying its ethnomedical application in malaria