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The active packaging films based on corn starch and chitosan were prepared through mixing the starch solution and the chitosan solution (1:1) by casting. The aim of this work was to characterize and analyze the effects of the chitosan... more
The active packaging films based on corn starch and chitosan were prepared through mixing the starch solution and the chitosan solution (1:1) by casting. The aim of this work was to characterize and analyze the effects of the chitosan concentrations (0, 21, 41, 61 and 81wt% of starch) on physicochemical, mechanical and water vapor barrier properties as well as morphological characteristics of the corn starch/chitosan (CS/CH) films. Starch molecules and chitosan could interact through hydrogen bonding as confirmed from the shift of the main peaks to higher wavenumbers in FTIR and the reduction of crystallinity in XRD. Results showed that the incorporation of chitosan resulted in an increase in film solubility, total color differences, tensile strength and elongation at break and a decrease in Young's modulus and water vapor permeability (WVP). Elongation at break of the CS/CH films increased with increasing of chitosan concentration, and reached a maximum at 41 wt%, then declined...
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Pharmacognostic and chromatographic evaluation of Calyptrochilum emarginatum (SW.) a potential drug plant belonging to the orchid family was carried out. High performance liquid chromatographic standardization of the methanol extract... more
Pharmacognostic and chromatographic evaluation of Calyptrochilum emarginatum (SW.) a potential drug plant belonging to the orchid family was carried out. High performance liquid chromatographic standardization of the methanol extract revealed sixteen compounds one of which had the same retention time 6.8 minutes as reference rutin. Thin layer chromatography of the hexane extract showed 11 spots one of which had Rf value of 0.5 same as β-sitosterol and the successive ethyl acetate extract gave 9 spots. Proximate analysis revealed moisture content of 11.9%, alcohol extractive value 1.4%, total ash 6.9%, water soluble ash 2.5% acid-insoluble ash 3.2% and water extractive value 13.8%. Microscopic evaluation of the leaf epidermis revealed anomocytic stomata which were only on the lower surface (hypostomatic), the epidermal cells were polygonal in shape on both adaxial (upper) and abaxial (lower) surfaces. Trichomes or trichome bases were not found on both surfaces. Keywords: Orchid, Caly...
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The growing role of traditional medicine practice in the health care delivery system of most countries of the world cannot be over emphasized. Needless to say, more than 90% of the remedies used by the practitioners of traditional... more
The growing role of traditional medicine practice in the health care delivery system of most countries of the world cannot be over emphasized. Needless to say, more than 90% of the remedies used by the practitioners of traditional medicine are medicinal plant based. The growing demand for these plants for medicinal use and the subsequent unsustainable harvesting, livestock browsing and infrastructural development has led to the endangerment of some of the species. A pilot study was conducted to document the medicinal plants used by traditional medicine practitioners (TMPs) and those they perceived to be scarce or endangered in Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Sixty TMPs were interviewed orally with the use of structured questionnaire. A total number of 120 medicinal plant species were identified from the 158 specimens surveyed for treatment of various ailments. Forty eight percent of the respondents did not agree that wild collection of medicinal plants without replacement can increase exti...
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Calyptrochilum emarginatum is an epiphytic shrub belonging to the orchid family with numerous medicinal uses. Phytochemical investigation of the leaf extractives revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, carbohydrates, terpenes,... more
Calyptrochilum emarginatum is an epiphytic shrub belonging to the orchid family with numerous medicinal uses. Phytochemical investigation of the leaf extractives revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, carbohydrates, terpenes, sterols and saponins. Alkaloids and cardiac glycosides could not be detected. Antimicrobial studies of the extracts revealed that at a minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of 1.6 mg/ml, the hexane and methanol successive extracts exhibited bactericidal activities against Staphylococcus aureus. The straight run methanol extract and the successive ethyl acetate extract did not show any activity against all the microorganisms investigated namely, S. aureus, Candida albicans, Klebsiella pneumonia, Escherichia coli and Salmonella paratyphi at the same concentration. Key words: Calyptrochilum emarginatum, orchid, phytochemicals, antimicrobial, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).
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Ipomeoa asarifolia has been used in traditional medicine for treating various ailments including dysmenorrhea, without scientific verification of its effects. Phytochemical studies were carried out on samples of I. asarifolia to determine... more
Ipomeoa asarifolia has been used in traditional medicine for treating various ailments including dysmenorrhea, without scientific verification of its effects. Phytochemical studies were carried out on samples of I. asarifolia to determine its pharmacognostic profile. Acetic acid-induced writhing in mice, formalin-induced pain and egg-albumin induced inflammatory tests in rats were employed to investigate anti-nociceptive and anti inflammatory properties of 70% methanolic extract of leaves. Alkaloids, saponin and phenols were present. The extract doses of 100 – 400 mg/kg i.p. significantly (P < 0.05) reduced inflammation and pain at the late phase of the process. The derived LD50 was 1,732.1 mg/kg i.p. These results justify the ethnomedicinal uses of the plant for pain relief and anti inflammation. Key words: Ipomoea asarifolia, anti-nociception, anti-inflammation, phytochemistry.
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Propolis is a resinous substance produced by bees with a wide range of medicinal uses. It is collected by bees from buds, leaves and bark exudates of several plants in both tropical and temperate regions. Propolis is sometimes referred to... more
Propolis is a resinous substance produced by bees with a wide range of medicinal uses. It is collected by bees from buds, leaves and bark exudates of several plants in both tropical and temperate regions. Propolis is sometimes referred to as “bee glue” as it is produced by bees for sealing and protection of their hives. Exploration and research into propolis and its biologically active constituents is increasing. Bee farming has become a popular commercial venture in several Nigerian communities and propolis which is a by-product of the bee hive is increasingly being produced and wasted as the economic benefits are completely unknown to the farmers or bee keepers. Propolis production has proven to be economically viable and sustainable. Phytochemical investigations of propolis had yielded several biologically active compounds which are potential drug candidates. This review examines local production and under-exploitation of propolis as a potential source of sustainable wealth creat...
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Introduction: Cassia tora Linn (Leguminosae–Caesalpinioideae), commonly known as Fotid in English and Tafasa in Hausa, is a perennial tree native to Africa. It has been reported to be used to manageskin infections, haemorrhoids, stomach... more
Introduction: Cassia tora Linn (Leguminosae–Caesalpinioideae), commonly known as Fotid in English and Tafasa in Hausa, is a perennial tree native to Africa. It has been reported to be used to manageskin infections, haemorrhoids, stomach ache and coughtraditionally. C. Tora leaves have been shown to possess anti-hepatotoxic, anti-allergic, anti-mutagenic, anti-fungal, radical scavenging, and anti-microbialactivities. Compounds such as anthraquinones, including chrysophanol, emodin, rhein have been isolated from C. tora . Objective: To investigate the pharmacognostic and physicochemical characteristics of the leaves of Cassia tora Linn. Methods: Pharmacognostic investigations including microscopy, chemomicroscopy, proximate analysis and phytochemical investigations including Thin Layer Chromatographic finger-printing were conducted. Results: The macro and microscopic studies revealed the leaves to be simple, papery, cordate and pinnately-veinnated. Both the adaxial and abaxial epiderm...
Essential oils have found vast applications in many fields including aromatherapy, flavor and fragrance industries. Ixora coccinea Linn. is a reputable medicinal plant with long history of use in Nigeria. This study aimed to investigate... more
Essential oils have found vast applications in many fields including aromatherapy, flavor and fragrance industries. Ixora coccinea Linn. is a reputable medicinal plant with long history of use in Nigeria. This study aimed to investigate the chemical constituents and antimicrobial activity of the leaf Essential Oil (EO) of Ixora coccinea grown in Nigeria. EO was obtained by hydrodistillation with yield of 0.16% (w/w). Chemical constituents of EO were determined using Gas Chromatography coupled to Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). The GC-MS analysis identified 43 compounds, representing 94.67% of the oil constituents. The analysis revealed eight classes of compounds including hydrocarbons, alcohols, carboxylic acids, esters, aldehydes, ketones, sesquiterpenoids and triterpenoids. Hydrocarbons accounted for 33.77% with decane (11.12%) as the highest; alcohols comprised 28.86% of the oil with the highest being linalool (10.54%). Esters made up 14.15% of the oil. Carboxylic acid (10.91%) was do...
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Sensitive, selective and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detection (DAD)/electrospray ionization multi-stage mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn) methods have been developed for the characterization of nine... more
Sensitive, selective and reliable high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)-diode array detection (DAD)/electrospray ionization multi-stage mass spectrometry (ESI-MSn) methods have been developed for the characterization of nine 2-glucosyloxycinnamic acid derivatives and quantitative analysis of three of the major 2-glucosyloxycinnamic acids, cis-melilotoside, trans-melilotoside and dihydromelilotoside, present in Dendrobium medicinal plants. The identities of the latter three major 2-glucosyloxycinnamic acids were confirmed by comparing their retention times, UV and mass spectra with those of the reference standards. The characteristic ESI-MSn fragmentation patterns of the remaining six 2-glucosyloxycinnamic acid derivatives, which are similar to the three major compounds, have allowed the putative elucidation of their structures. The concentrations of the cis-, trans- and dihydromelilotosides were simultaneously determined by HPLC/ESI-MS2 using the multiple reaction monitoring...
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Introduction Almost all plants are medicinal and the application of medicinal plants especially in traditional medicine is well acknowledged as a viable profession in Nigeria.Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapt. Commonly known as lemon grass... more
Introduction Almost all plants are medicinal and the application of medicinal plants especially in traditional medicine is well acknowledged as a viable profession in Nigeria.Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapt. Commonly known as lemon grass or oil grass, is a tropical plant from South Asia and Southeast Asia. Lemon grass belongs to the section of Andropogon called Cymbopogon of the family Poaceae/Graminae. It is a large genus of the family, including about 500 described species out of which six species occur in Nigeria namely: C. citratus (DC) Stapf.; C. densiflora (Steud.) Stapf; C. gigantus Chiov.;C. nardus (Linn.) Rendle; C. schoenanthus (Linn.) Sprang and C. winterianus Jowitt. Due to the production of lemon grass oil as major component, two of the species Cymbopogon citratus and C. nardus are generally called Lemon grass (Bonjar & Farrokhi, (2004). Cymbopogon citratus has slender sharp-edged green leaves with pointed apex. Common names in Nigeria include: tsauri (Hausa); akwukwo, ...