This study was carried out to establish the antidiarrhoeal and antioxidant properties of the ethanol leaf extract of Pseudocedrela kotschyi in wistar albino rats. The effect of the ethanol extract on castor oil induced diarrhoea, motility of the GIT using the charcoal plug method and castor oil induced intestinal fluid accumulation in rats were evaluated. The antioxidant potential of the leaf extract was investigated by measuring its capability for scavenging 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical. The phytochemical constituents and the oral acute toxicity of ethanol leaf extract were also determined in rats. Generally, the ethanol leaf extract at all doses used, was found to posses significant (P<0.05) concentration dependent antidiarrhoeal, antimotility and antienteropooling activity. The leaf extract also exhibited strong antioxidant activity. The phytochemical studies revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannin, cardiac glycosides, steroids, flavoniods and saponins. The LD50 in rats was above 5000 mg/kg. The ethanol leaf extract of Pseudocedrela kotschyi has demonstrated strong antidiarrhoeal, antimotility, antienteropooling and antioxidant activities, supporting previous claims of its traditional use in the treatment of different diseases.

Aim: The study investigated the effect of using different activating agents- Nitric acid, Zinc chloride and Phosphoric acid on the adsorption of potassium cyanide by activated charcoal. We also investigated the In vitro effect of various doses of activated charcoal from different agro-based sources (Coconut shell, Rice husk, Castor oil seed shell, Edible clay and Plantain peels) on the adsorption of cyanide. Materials and methods: 50ml of 1M potassium cyanide was pipetted into two beakers for each sample of the prepared activated charcoal ranging from 0.5 g to 2.0 g. The resultant mixtures were agitated for 1 hour and allowed to stand for 24 hours at room temperature. The mixtures were filtered using whatman filter paper. The filtrates were analyzed for cyanide concentration using ninhydrin method and the absorbance read with ultraviolet-spectrophotometry. The absorbance was then converted to cyanide concentrations in mg/dl using standard cyanide concentrations graphs. Results: The results showed some statistically significant differences in the potassium cyanide adsorption by the different samples of prepared carbon materials activated with different activating agents except for coconut shell activated with zinc chloride. The cyanide adsorption was found to be in the same range for the activated charcoal samples prepared from different sources irrespective of the doses used in the experiment. Conclusion: The adsorptive capacities of different samples of activated charcoal varied significantly with the type of chemical activating agents used in the activation of the carbon. Coconut shell activated with HNO3 and H3P04 showed the best adsorption capacity. The cyanide adsorption by the locally-prepared activated charcoal was found to be better than that of the standard commercial activated charcoal.