Levels of Potentially Toxic Metals In Selected Herbal Medicines In Lagos, Nigeria

The increasing popularity and widespread use of herbs as alternative medicine has sparked an interest in understanding their safety. Potential toxic metals (PTM) have been identified as a risk to human health through the usage of herbal medicines. This study aimed to assess the level and pH of PTM (Fe, Cu, Pb, Cd, Ni and Zn) in selected herbal medicines sold in Lagos, Nigeria. Eight commonly consumed herbal medicines: E-5000, MT-CAPS, B-CAPS, DD-TEA, YC-BITTER, JHD-POWD, KA-POWD, and H-CAPS were analysed for PTM using Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer after wet digestion of the medicines. The highest concentration (mg/kg) of Fe (257±0.1), Pb (33.8±0.01) and Zn (38.9±0.01) were found in KA-POWD. The result also showed that JHD-POWD had the highest concentration amount of Ni (54.0±0.01 mg/kg), while B-CAPS had the highest concentration of Cu (4.14 ±0.02 mg/Kg).  All the herbal medicines analysed are high in Fe content with range between 6.2 to 257 mg/kg. The pH values ranged between slightly acidic of 5.6 - 5.7 to slightly alkaline of 8.0 -8.65.  Twenty five percent of herbal medicines analysed had concentrations of Pb above the the WHO limits of 10 mg/kg, while all the samples had Cd above the permissible limits of 0.3 mg/kg. KA-POWD had the highest concentrations of Pb, Zn, Fe, and Cd determined.  All other PTMs in the other samples analysed are below the recommended permissible limits. Keyword: Capsules; Herbal medicine; Lagos; Potentially toxic metals content; Powdered

Essential oil composition of Ficus benjamina (Moraceae) and Irvingia barteri (Irvingiaceae).

Essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation of leaves of two Nigerian species were analyzed for their constituents by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The leaf oil of Ficus benjamina L. (Moraceae), collected during the day, contained high contents of α-pinene (13.9%), abietadiene (9.7%), cis-α-bisabolene (8.2%) and germacrene-D-4-ol (8.4%), while the night sample was dominated by germacrene-D-4-ol (31.5%), 1,10-di- epi-cubenol (8.8%) and hexahydrofarnesylacetone (8.3%). This could be a possible indication of differences in emissions of volatiles by F. benjamina during the day and night. The main compounds of Irvingia barteri Hook. f. (Irvingiaceae) were β-caryophyllene (17.0%), (E)-α-ionone (10.0%), geranial (7.6%), (E)-β-ionone (6.6%) and β-gurjunene (5.1%)

Constituents of Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp., Moringa oleifera Lam., Heliotropium indicum L. and Bidens pilosa L. from Nigeria.

The essential oils of four plant species from Nigeria have been extracted by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The oils of Cajanus cajan were comprised of sesquiterpenes (92.5%, 81.2% and 94.3% respectively in the leaves, stem and seeds). The major compounds identified were α-himachalene (9.0-11.5%), β-himachalene (8.0-11.0%), γ-himachalene (6.9-8.1%), α-humulene (7.1-8.7%) and α-copaene (4.5-5.6%). However, monoterpenoid compounds (81.8%) dominated the oil of Moringa oleifera with an abundance of α-phellandrene (25.2%) and p-cymene (24.9%). On the other hand, aldehydes (52.8%) occurred in the highest amount in Heliotropium indicum, represented by phenylacetaldehyde (22.2%), ( E)-2-nonenal (8.3%) and (E, Z)-2-nonadienal (6.1%), with a significant quantity of hexahydrofarnesylacetone (8.4%). The leaf and stem oils of Bidens pilosa were dominated by sesquiterpenes (82.3% and 59.3%, respectively). The main compounds in the leaf oil were caryophyllene oxide (37.0%), β-caryophyllene (10.5%) and humulene oxide (6.0%), while the stem oils had an abundance of hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (13.4%), δ-cadinene (12.0%) and caryophyllene oxide (11.0%). The observed chemical patterns differ considerably from previous investigations

Essential oil constituents of Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. and Vernonia amygdalina Delile

The chemical composition of the essential oils from the leaves and stem bark of Eclipta prostrata (L.) L. and the aerial parts of Vernonia amygdalina Delile (Asteraceae) have been analyzed by capillary gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The investigation led to the identification of 33 and 30 compounds in the oils of the leaves and stem of E. prostrate, respectively, and 40 compounds in the oil of V. amygdalina. While the oil of the leaves of E. prostrata was highly dominated by sesquiterpenoids (89.3%), the stem bark was comprised of sesquiteprenoids (47.7%), straight chain hydrocarbons (25.6%) and monoterpenoids (11.1%). The main constituents of both oils were β-caryophyllene (47.7% and 15.9%) and α-humulene (31.8 and 12.9%) in the leaves and stem, respectively. In addition, ( E)-β-farnesene (10.0%) was also identified in significant amount in the stem bark. On the other hand, the major component of V. amygdalina oil was α-muurolol (45.7%)

chemical constituents anti nociceptive and anti inflammatory activities of essential oil of phyllanthus muellerianus

The aim of the present study was to characterize the chemical composition and to evaluate the anti-inflammatory and anti-nociceptive properties of the essential oil from the leaves of Phyllanthus muellerianus (Kuntze) Exell. The essential oil was hydrodistilled and characterized by gas chromatography-flame ionization detection and gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry analyses. The anti-inflammatory activity was evaluated on carrageenan-induced rat paw edema while the anti-nociceptive test was based on hot plate analysis. The hydrodistillation afforded 0.09% (dry weight basis) of pale yellow oil. Thirty-eight compounds representing 94.8% were identified in the oil. The major components of the oil were hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (11.6%), isocaryophyllene (9.8%), and limonene (9.4%). The oils of P. muellerianus displayed anti-nociceptive effect at a rate independent of reaction time and dose (P < 0.001). The rate of inhibition increased exponentially as the dose increases with optimum activity at..

GC-MS analysis and physiochemical properties of Enterolobium cyclocarpum (elephant ear) seed oil

Background: The present study aimed to extract, evaluate the physicochemical properties, and chemical characterization of the seed Enterolobium cyclocarpum. E. cyclocarpum is a legume of the Leguminosae family. It is used as foliage, for animal feeding and oil is extracted for several application in folk medicine for the treatment of sore throat, colds, diarrhea, headache, intestinal ailments, and stomachache. The leaf infusion is used as a laxative In the West Indies; seeds are chewed for a sore throat.Methods: Three hundred grams (300 g) of each of the pulverized samples were extracted with 100% hexane using Soxhlet extractor to produce a light-brown oil of low viscosity. The physicochemical properties of the oil were analyzed using AOAC standard methods, while the oil components were characterized on an HP-5MS column Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS).Results: The yield of the oil is very low (only 4.11 % by weight), Fatty acid composition showed that undecanoic acid methyl ester (36.68%) was the dominant fatty acid, followed by 3-linoleic acid (25.04%), and 2-linolelaidic acid methyl ester (12.98%). Physicochemical properties of themed oil were moisture content (0.85%); refractive index (25oC), 1.45; Specific gravity, 0.86±0.02; iodine value, 68.55±0.02/100 g of oil; peroxide value, 6.58±0.03 meq. O2/kg of oil; free fatty acids, 2.63±0.01 mg of KOH/g of oil; acid value, 5.26±0.02 mg of KOH/g of oil; saponification value, 189.00±0.03; Unsaponifiable value, 0.66±0.01%.Conclusion: This study has shown that the seed oil of E. cyclocarpum displayed properties and constituents as a substitute oil for industrial, pharmaceutical, and domestic applications

Constituents of essential oils from the leaf, stem, root, fruit and flower of Alpinia macroura K. Schum

This paper reports the chemical constituents of essential oils from the various parts of Alpinia macroura K. Schum (Zingiberaceae) from Vietnam. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analysed by means of gas chromatography coupled to Flame ionization detector (GC-FID) and gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC/MS). The main constituents of the oils were β-pinene (8.8%-16.4%), 1,8-cineole (5.5%-17.7%), γ-terpinene (5.9%-16.9%), α-pinene (4.5%-8.4%) and β-caryophyllene (1.4%- 18.6%). Sabinene (9.0%) was identified only in the fruit. Overall, nineteen of the identified compounds are coming to all the essential oils. The chemical constituents of essential oils from the leaf, stem, root, fruit and flower of A. macroura are being reported for the first time and were found to be different from those of other Alpinia oils

Constituents of essential oils from the leaves, stems and roots of Zingiber gramineum and Zingiber rufopilosum

The chemical constituents of essential oils obtained from leaves, stems and roots of Zingiber gramineum Noronha ex Blume and Zingiber rufopilosum Gagnep collected from Vietnam have been studied. The determination of essential oil components was performed by Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector (GC-FID) and Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The main constituents of the leaves oil of Zingiber gramineum were zingiberene (19.5%), β-cubebene (12.9%), -sesquiphellandrene (12.9%) and β-elemene (11.6%) while the stems oil was dominated by benzyl benzoate (22.6%), β-elemene (9.7%) and -selinene (8.8%). However, γ-terpinene (17.9%), α-terpinene (17.1%), terpinen-4-ol (13.0%) and 1,8-cineole (12.8%) were the present in the root oil. In addition, -agarofuran (13.7%), α-humulene (8.8%) and α-pinene (8.7%) were the main compounds identified in the leaves of Zingiber rufopilosum. The stems comprised of α-cadinol (15.1%), -muurolol (12.1%) and endo-1-bourbonanol (9.9%) while (E,E)-farnesol (11.6%), α-pinene (10.0%), bornyl acetate (6.6%) and β-pinene (6.2%) were the significant compounds of the root oil. This is the first report on the volatile compositions of these plant species

Essential oils from the leaves of six medicinal plants of Nigeria.

The chemistry of Cassia siamea L., C. occidentalis L. (Fabaceae), Cnestis ferruginea Vahl ex DC (Connaraceae), Anthocleista djalonensis A. Chev (Loganiaceae), Solanum torvum Swartz and S. erianthum G. Don (Solanaceae) volatiles grown in Nigeria have been studied. The essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation and analyzed by GC and GC-MS. The main compounds of C. siamea were (E)-geranyl acetone (5.8%), 1-octen-3-ol (5.8%), linalool (7.8%), iso-italicene (15.4%) and (E)-β-damascenone (11.0%). On the other hand, C. occidentalis consisted mainly of (E)-geranyl acetone (8.0%), hexahydrofarnesylacetone (24.0%) and (E)-phytol acetate (40.7%). The oil of C. ferruginea was comprised mainly of (E)-geranyl acetone (13.7%), (E)-α-ionone (9.5%), phytol (5.8%), pentadecanal (6.1%) and 1-octen-3-ol (5.5%). The main compounds of A. djalonensis were α-humulene (31.9%), β-caryophyllene (17.8%), humulene epoxide II (12.7%) and caryophyllene oxide (5.9%). The main volatiles of S. torvum were (E)-phytol acetate (38.7%), pentadecanal (25.3%) and (E)-geranyl acetone (5.0%). Apart from methyl salicylate (4.5%), tetradecanal (2.2%), 2-pentyl furan (1.8%), hexahydrofarnesylacetone (1.6%) and hexadecanal (1.1%), all other compounds were either present in trace quantity or in amounts less than 1%. On the other hand, α-humulene (46.6%) and β-caryophyllene (20.6%) were the compounds occurring in higher quantities in S. erianthum. The volatile oil contents of Cassia siamea, Cnestis ferruginea, Anthocleista djalonensis and Solanum torvum are being reported for the first time

Chemical constituents, antiinflammatory and antinociceptive activities of essential oils from Cordia millenii, Bougainvillea glabra and Phyllanthus muellerianus

Essential oils were obtained by hydrodistillation of air-dry leaves of Cordia millenii Bak. (Boraginaceae), Bougainvillea glabra Choisy (Nyctaginaceae) and Phyllanthus muellerianus (Kuntze) Exell. (Euphorbiaceae) using a Clevenger-type apparatus. The chemical constituents of the oils were analyzed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry on an HP-5MS column. The major constituents of C. millenii were limonene (19.9%), diallyl disulfide (18.4%), β-caryophyllene (16.6%) and linalool (13.4%) while (E)-nerolidol (31.4%), (E)-β-ionone (10.3%) and linalool (10.1%) were present in B. glabra. Hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (11.6%), isocaryophyllene (9.8%) and limonene (9.4%) occurred in higher proportions in P. muellerianus. The antinociceptive properties of C. millenii oil were statistically not significantly different (p>0.05) when compared to the control for most tested concentrations except at the 120th minute (p0.05) when compared to the control. The antinociceptive properties of the essential oil of B. glabra were statistically significantly different, p<0.05 and p<0.01 at the doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg p.o., respectively, when compared to the control at the 30th minute but much more effective (p <0.001) at a dose of 400 mg/kg. For the 1st and 2nd hour, at the doses of 100 and 200 mg/kg (p <0.001), the antiinflammatory activity was statistically significantly (very low values of p) different from the control, while at the 3rd hour, it was significant (p <0.01) at a dose of 300 mg/kg but there were no statistical differences observable at the 4th hour. The essential of P. muellerianus at 100 mg/kg p.o. displayed an increased antinociceptive activity with p<0.01 to p <0.001 from the 30th to the 120th minute. Moreover, the oil showed a high inhibition, with up to p <0.001, in the case of carrageenan-induced inflammation