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Malaria is a major public health disease affecting millions of people worldwide especially in sub-Saharan Africa, with annual deaths of over 4 million. The emergence of resistant strains of Plasmodium parasite to currently used drugs necessitates the search for newer and affordable cure for malaria from medicinal plants sources. Caesalpinia pulcherrima (L) Sw. is used in traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases including malaria. Phytochemical, acute toxicity studies and antiplasmodial activities were carried out on the stem bark extracts of the plant. Fraction (HEEA) was fractionated over silica gel column to obtain pure compounds (characterized by IR, UV, 1D and 2D spectroscopy) which were subjected to antiplasmodial investigations. Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of saponins, flavonoids, phenols, terpenoids, tannins, and alkaloids. The LD50 was established at 5656.85 mg/kg body weight in Swiss albino mice. Of all the fractions, HEEA exhibited the highest antiplasmodial activities against both the D6 and W2 Plasmodium falciparum clones at IC50 3.7 and 5.3µg /mL, respectively. Two known compounds; Pulcherrin J (1) and 6β-cinnamoyloxy-7β-hydroxyvouacapen-5α-ol (2) were isolated from HEEA and investigated for antiplasmodial activities. They showed significant inhibition of parasites growth in the D6 and W2 clones with IC50 values 10.25-˃10.62 µM and 10.25-˃10.62 µM, for compound 1 and 2, respectively, as against those of the standard antimalarial drugs (Chloroquine and Artemisinin) with IC50 values <0.0937 and <0.1062, respectively. These findings revealed that C. pulcherrima stem bark possess significant antiplasmodial activities and could be a promising source of newer antiplasmodial agents.

Background: The antioxidant properties of ethanolic root extract of pepper fruit (Donnetia tripetala), and its effect on lipid peroxidation of some fresh beef tissues during frozen storage were investigated. Materials and Methods: The antioxidant parameters were assessed using standard methods, while malondialdehyde levels of different fresh beef tissue sections treated with the extract prior to freezing, were estimated in a colorimetric reaction with thiobarbituric acid. Results: The H 2 O 2 -scavenging ability of the extract was similar to that of ascorbic acid, with a maximum scavenging power of 55.61 ±4.98%, and an IC 50 value of 86µg/ml. The extract exhibited a concentration-dependent ferric ion-reducing power, although this was significantly lower relative to that of the ascorbic acid (p < 0.05). The total phenolic content was 212.5 ± 0.002 mg/g, while the nitric oxide-scavenging ability was 64.33 ± 0.2% after 150 min. The capacity of the extract to inhibit lipid peroxidation in frozen heart muscle slices was significantly higher than that of vitamin C (p < 0 .05), but comparable to vitamins C and E in frozen testes and kidney slices. Conclusion: These results suggest that the root extract of D. tripetala is rich in antioxidants which can be applied to meat preservation during refrigerated storage.

The research lends support to the ethnomedicinal use of the plant in combating microbial infections, leishmaniasis and malarial infections.

Purpose: The present study was undertaken in order to evaluate the antidiarrhoeal activity of three chromatographic fractions (L, S and Y)