Background Ajuga remota Benth is traditionally used in Ethiopia for the management of diabetes mellitus. Since this claim has not been investigated scientifically, the aim of this study was to evaluate the antidiabetic effect and phytochemical screening of the aqueous and 70% ethanol extracts on alloxan-induced diabetic mice.MethodsAfter acute toxicity test, the Swiss albino mice were induced with alloxan to get experimental diabetes animals. The fasting mean blood glucose level before and after treatment for two weeks in normal, diabetic untreated and diabetic mice treated with aqueous and 70% ethanol extracts were performed. Data were statistically evaluated by using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software version 20. P-value <0.05 was considered statistically significant.ResultsThe medium lethal doses (LD50) of both extracts were higher than 5000 mg/kg, indicating the extracts are not toxic under the observable condition. Aqueous extracts of A.remota (300 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg body weight) reduced elevated blood glucose levels by 27.83 ± 2.96% and 38.98 ± 0.67% (P < 0.0001), respectively while the 70% ethanol extract caused a reduction of 27.94 ± 1.92% (300 mg/kg) & 28.26 ± 1.82% (500 mg/kg). Treatment with the antidiabetic drug, Glibenclamide (10 mg/kg body weight) lowered blood glucose level by 51.06% (p < 0.05). Phytochemical screening of both extracts indicated the presence of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, and steroids, which might contribute to the antidiabetic activity. The extracts, however, did not contain alkaloids and anthraquinones.ConclusionThe aqueous extract (500 mg/kg) showed the highest percentage reduction in blood glucose levels and the ability of A. remota extracts in reducing blood glucose levels presumably due to the presence of antioxidant constituents such as flavonoids. The effect of the extract supported the traditional claim of the plant.

Organic agriculture can and should play an important role in solving future challenges in producing food. The low level of external inputs combined with knowledge on sustainablity minimizes environmental contamination and can help to produce more food for more people without negatively impacting our

The adulticidal activities of essential oils of eleven plants namely Chenopodium ambrosioides, Eucalyptus citriodora, Eucalyptus globules, Lippia adoensis, Mentha spicata, Nigella sativa, Ocimum lamiifolium, Ocimum suave, Piper nigrum, Schinus molle and Thymus vulgaris were assessed against a laboratory colony of Anopheles arabiensis in Ethiopia. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) glass bottle bioassay was adopted to conduct bioefficacy tests. For each replicate, ten blood-unfed female An. arabiensis were exposed to different concentrations of essential oils coated in glass bottles, and mortality was recorded at intervals of 5 minutes for one hour to assess the mean percentage mortality and LC 50 and LC 90 values. The residual toxicity of six essential oils was also assessed by exposing adult An. arabiensis in nylon netting Barraud cages treated by oils. Of all the essential oils assessed for adulticidal activities, O. suave was found to be toxic at low concentration (LC 50 = of 0.0014 ml% v/v; LC 90 = 0.0027 ml% v/v). The next efficacious oil was that of T. vulgaris with LC 50 and LC 90 values of 0.0028 ml% v/v and 0.005 ml% v/v, respectively. The lowest activity was due to S. molle, E. globulus and P. nigrum. At a concentration of 0.05 ml% v/v, O. suave killed 100% of An. arabiensis within five minutes of exposure, while P. nigrum at the same duration caused similar rate of mortality at a concentration of 50 fold. Residual toxicity tests revealed O. suave to persist for 15 days, killing all mosquitoes in the first five days and 80% up to 10 days. The lowest residual activity was noted for E. citriodora which persisted only for 2 days. The essential oil O. suave acquired the highest level of toxicity at low concentration and within a short time. The efficacious nature of most plants has an implication for more screening of components of these plants with potential adulticides and develops for mosquito control.

Experiments were conducted to assess the importance of anthracnose in South Ethiopia, characterize isolates of Colletotrichm gloeosporioides, and evaluate the efficacy of essential oils against the pathogen. In 2010, anthracnose incidence and severity were 37-57% and 16-31%, respectively. In 2011, disease incidence ranged from 33% to 65% while severity varied between 17% and 35%. Disease incidence and severity were 77% and 46%, respectively, during market surveys. Mean colony diameters of isolates were 38.6, 48.9, and 51 mm after 48 h of growth at 20, 25, and 30 • C, respectively. Oils from Palmarosa and White cumin caused 100% inhibition of fungal growth.

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