Determination Of Antioxidant Activity And Vitamin C Content Of Mango (mangifera Indica L.) And Pineapple (ananas Comosus) Fruit Juice

Background: Mangoes and pineapples are popular fruits and are widely consumed in Nigeria as food or snack but local data on their antioxidant value is scarce.Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the antioxidant activity and Vitamin C content of the juice of locally available mango and pineapple fruits in Lagos, Nigeria.Methods: Two varieties each of mango (Haden and Alphonso) and pineapple (Cayenne and Sarawak) fruits were sourced from local markets. Fresh juice of the ripe fruits was extracted and analyzed for phytochemical components such as tannins, reducing sugars,carbohydrates, terpenoids, steroids, glycosides, proteins, alkaloids, flavonoids and saponins. The Vitamin C content of the juice was determined using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method. The antioxidant activity was assessed in vitro by determination of free radical scavenging activity using DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) method. The ferric reducing power and total phenolic compounds were also determined.Results: The Vitamin C content in mg/100 g sample was 28 for the Haden variety and 88 for the Alphonso variety of mango. The Cayenne variety of pineapple had Vitamin C content 63 mg/100 g which was higher than in the Sarawak variety (14 mg/100 g sample). Free radical scavenging activity and total phenolic compounds were highest in the Cayenne variety of pineapple while Alphonso variety of mango had the highest ferric reducing power.Conclusion: The mangoes and pineapples studied possess antioxidant activity in terms of free radical scavenging activity (38 to 48 µg/ml Ascorbic acid equivalent) and ferric reducing power. They also contain Vitamin C, phenolic compounds and phytochemicals ofnutritional value

Bioequivalence of three brands of ciprofloxacin marketed in Lagos, Nigeria

Background: When two formulations of the same drug are equivalent in the rate and extent to which the active drug ingredient is absorbed and becomes equally available at the site of drug action, they are bioequivalent and could be said to be therapeutically active. Objective: The study investigated the bioequivalence of two brands of ciprofloxacin tablets with a reference product using urinary excretion Methods: The study design was an open, single dose, randomized, three-treatment, three-period crossover design with two 14-days washout period. Each participant was given a single dose of 500 mg Ciprofloxacin with 250 mL of table water. Urine samples were collected for a period of 36 hours. The amount of ciprofloxacin excreted unchanged was evaluated by a validated ultraviolet spectrophotometric method. Results: The parametric estimates for urinary excretion data obtained were compared. The elimination rate constants (K) were estimated as 0.11 -1 ± 0.03, 0.12 ± 0.03 and 0.13 ± 0.04 h ; the excretion rate constants (k ) were evaluated as 0.21 ± 0.12, e-1 0.25 ± 0.11 and 0.22 ± 0.10 mgh whilst elimination half-lives (t ) were estimated as 6.3 ± 1.2, 5.8 ± 0.5 1/2and 5.3 ± 0.3 h for generic products A, B and reference respectively. The mean cumulative amount of drug excreted unchanged was used asbioequivalence determinant. The confidence intervals, CI (90 %) for the cumulative amount of ciprofloxacin excreted unchanged were determined by evaluating log-transformed generic products A & B/reference ratio. The 90 % CI obtained for generic product A and B were 101.8 – 110.8 and 98.2- 106.1 % respectively. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the 90 % CI for the bioequivalence determinant was within the bioequivalence acceptable limit of 80 – 125 %.  Therefore the two generic products could be said to be therapeutically equivalent

A 5- month toxicity study of the ethanol extract of the leaves of Heliotropium indicum in Sprague Dawley rats after oral administration.

Background: Heliotropium indicum Linn. (Boraginaceae) is used in Nigerian traditional medicine to treat tuberculosis with treatment lasting for 3 months; however, information on its toxicity is scarce.Objective: This study investigated the safety of the leaves of Heliotropium indicum after a 5 month oral administration.Methods: The leaves of H. indicum were dried; extracted in 70 % ethanol and concentrated to dryness. Swiss mice were administered orally with single doses of the extract (0.5 to 12.0 g/kg b.wt /day); mortality was examined for up to 14 days. In another study, the plant material (0.5 to 2.0 g/kg b.wt /day) were administered daily by oral gavage to Sprague Dawley rats. Body weight was monitored weekly, hematological, biochemical and organ parameters were determined at the end of the 1st, 2nd and 5th months of extract administration.Results: The oral administration of the ethanol extract of H. indicum caused dose-dependent mortality. The LD was 50 9.78 g/kg b.wt for the Swiss mice; no harmful effect was observed on the liver and kidney except the testes which exhibited considerable inflammatory changes at the highest dose of 2.0 g/kg b.wt./day after the 5th month treatment. No significant difference (P>0.05) was shown in the enzyme study, marginal increase occurred in some haematological parameters. The increase in body weight of the treated rats after its initial reduction was consistent and significantly different (P<0.05) from their initial body weight.Conclusion: Prolonged administration of the crude leaf extract of H. indicum is considered to be safe and non-toxic at the doses studied. However, there is a probability of a negative effect on the testes at a higher dose of the extract.Keywords Heliotropium indicum, Liver enzymes, Histopathology, Animal toxicity, Traditional medicin

Evaluation of cytotoxic and antimicrobial activities of Struchium sparganophora (Linn) Ktze Asteraceae.

Struchium sparganophora (Linn) Ktze, (Asteraceae) is a culinary herbs used as part of a traditional dish in Nigeria and a medicinal plants for the treatment of different ailments in Africa. Dried leaf, stem and root parts of this plant were extracted with n-hexane, chloroform and methanol respectively, concentrated under reduced pressure, freeze dried and evaluated for their antimicrobial and anti tumour activities. The antimicrobial test involved microdilution titre technique while cytotoxicity activities was evaluated using the 3,-(4,5-Dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (MTT) assay. The extracts exhibited a broad spectrum of activity against Gram- positive and Gram-negative organism of minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 50 to 6.25 mg/ml but this activity is less than that of anti-microbial standard drug amoxicillin which had MIC of 0.78 to 6.25 mg/ml except against Klebsiella aerogenes on which the extracts had a similar activity to that amoxicillin of MIC 6.25 mg/ml. The extracts showed a significant anti- fungal activity (P< 0.05) of MIC 6.25 mg/ml in comparison with the anti-fungal standard drug Fluconazole (MIC) 50 mg/ml. The extracts also showed to be cytotoxic to all cancer cell lines at the dose of 0.75 mg/ml and significant growth inhibitory activity to all the cancer cell lines used for the test at the dose of 1 mg/ml. The hexane extracts exhibited increase in most cancer cell lines growth at the doses of 0.1 and 0.25 mg/ml while the chloroform and methanol extracts did not show uniform activity. These activities may portend a beneficial effect to human consumption as it may hinder the development and growth of cancerous cells at a high dose

Antimicrobial agents from the leaf of Struchium sparganophora (Linn) Ktze, Asteraceae.

Three Antimicrobial agents from the leaf of Struchium sparganophora were isolated by chromatographic methods and characterized. The microbial inhibitory activity of these compounds was investigated against Gram-positive, Gram-negative bacteria and fungi. The antimicrobial activity of some of these compounds was similar in some of the micro-organisms used for the tests except Klebsiella. aerogenes and the fungus Candida albicans where all the compounds showed minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values between 50 and 6.25 µg/ml. Luteolin and 3 methyl 2, 6, hexacosedienol significantly inhibited the growth of the two fungi (P<0.05) while vernodalin did not show strong activity against Aspergillus niger with MIC of 100 ug/ml. These compounds contribute to the anti-infective use of this plant in folkloric medicine and also these compounds could be used as natural antimicrobial agents in the food preservation and human health