Pharmacognosy- Conference Papers

Permanent URI for this collection

https://ir.unilag.edu.ng/handle/123456789/3752

Browse

Browsing Pharmacognosy- Conference Papers by Author "Odimegwu, J"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Item
    Open Access
    Antiviral synergism and GC/MS analysis of seed oils of West African Plants Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) and Aframomum melegueta K. Schum (Zingiberaceae)
    (UNESCO-MERCK, 2015) Odimegwu, J; Asabisi, O.
    Antiviral synergism and GC/MS analysis of seed oils of West African Plants Garcinia kola Heckel (Clusiaceae) and Aframomum melegueta K. Schum (Zingiberaceae) Odimegwu, Joy Ifunanya and Asabisi, Olatunde Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy. College of Medicine Campus. PMB 12003 Idi-araba. Surulere. Lagos. Nigeria Contact: 234 8170140519 jodimegwu@unilag.edu.ng or jodimegwu@hotmail.com Medicinal plants are increasingly being projected as suitable alternative sources of antiviral agents. There is need for rapid identification of potential bioactive components of plant parts. Also standardization and/or pharmacokinetic–pharmacodynamic profiling of the bioactive components is key in this area especially for this class of natural compounds. Garcinia kola (Gk) and Aframomum melegueta (Am) seeds are locally sourced in many countries in Africa and wholly used locally to treat and manage viral infections and food poisoning. The oils were selected for this study in order to explore the bioactive components in the oils which are yet to be assayed as antiviral components. The study is ongoing as we work to ascertain bioactive components in the oils and possible synergistic antiviral actions in the components of the two plants. Keywords: Aframomum melegueta, food poisoning, Garcinia kola and Herbal medicines
  • Item
    Open Access
    Cytotoxic potentials of Africa never die plant: Bryophyllum pinnatum [Lam] leaf oils.
    (Gordon Research Conferences. GRC, 2016-01-30) Odimegwu, J; Iboi, V
    Bryophyllum pinnatum (Lam.) Crassulaceae is popularly known as AFRICA NEVER DIE, life plant, air plant. Alcoholic and aqueous extracts of the leaves are used widely as mono or polyherbal for various medicinal purposes by indigenous communities; anti-diabetes, antitumor and antimicrobial medicine. In this study; oils from fresh leaves were extracted using soxhlet apparatus and the chemical constituents were analyzed with Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry. Cytotoxic activity was checked using root tips assays of Allium cepa with concentrations ranging from 1ug/ml to 1mg/ml. Presence of medicinally important fatty acids and terpenes were observed. 25 compounds in all were discovered with γ-Linolenic acid being the most abundant at 26.04 % of the total. Ethanolic extracts of the leaves were phytochemically screened for content and showed the presence of cardiac glycosides, tannins, saponins and flavonoids. The oil extracts worked in a concentration dependent manner in inhibiting root growth and interfering with cell division in the A. cepa root tips with the highest inhibitory effect at 0.4mg/ml. Induced chromosomal aberration were significant at 1ug/ml. Some of the chromosomal aberrations observed in the treated root tips are binucleate chromosomes, sticky chromosomes, c-mitosis, bridged anaphase, vagrant and attached chromosomes. The anti-mitotic potential observed shows that the oil contain compounds that may be useful in development of anti-cancer medicines to prevent the uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells. Theses observations could lead to further more detailed work on the species for novel anti-cancer lead compounds.
  • Item
    Restricted
    GC/MS ANALYSIS AND ANTI-FUNGAL EVALUATION OF THE OIL OF PTEROCARPUS MILDBRAEDII (HARMS) SHOOTS.
    (Gordon Research Conferences. GRC, 2015) Odimegwu, J; Omoniyi, D; Odukoya, O.A
    Human fungal infestations can be very difficult to eradicate as there may be associations of organisms in a reported infection. There is an urgent search for anti-fungal compounds from nature to combat the scourge. Fatty acids are widely occurring in plants and dietary oils and they are known to have antibacterial and anti fungal properties. Pterocarpus mildbraedii (Harms) belongs to the family Fabaceae. The leaves are mostly boiled and consumed in soup as food in Nigeria and Ghana. Therapeutically, alcoholic extracts from the leaves and shoots are used in the management of pain, headaches, fungal infections, general microbial infections and fever by local communities. The evaluation of the chemical constituents of the oil from leaves and shoots of Pterocarpus mildbraedii took the form of soxhlet extraction and GC-MS. The investigation of the anti-fungal properties was carried out using the Agar well diffusion assay against Penicillum sp with Clotrimazole as standard drug. Total oil yield was 0.88%, the GC-MS analysis revealed presence of 8 compounds with α linolenic acid being the most abundant at 67%. It is a polyunsaturated fatty acid essential in human nutrition. Fig. 1 Chemical structure of α linolenic acid Phytochemical assays indicated presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins and flavonoids in the alcoholic extracts. These together with the fatty acids may be responsible for the anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, anti-fungal properties already reported about the plant. The oils worked in a dose dependent manner with higher concentration giving greater inhibition; the greatest zone of inhibition was recorded at 264 µg/ml, much more than that of the standard at 10 µg/ml. Further research is suggested in order to ascertain the mechanism of action of the fixed oil and the main compound responsible for its bioactivity. Key words: α Linolenic acid, Fixed oils, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry. Pterocarpus mildbraedii