The use of plant to meet health-care needs has greatly increased worldwide in the recent times. The search for new plant-derived bioactive agents that can be explored for the treatment of drug-resistant malaria infection is urgently needed. Thus, we evaluated the antimalarial activity of three medicinal plants used in Nigerian folklore for the treatment of malaria infection. A modified Peter’s 4-day suppressive test was used to evaluate the antimalarial activity of the plant extracts in a mouse model of chloroquine-resistant Plasmodium berghei ANKA strain. Animals were treated with 250, 500, or 800 mg/kg of aqueous extract. It was observed that of all the three plants studied, Markhamia tomentosa showed the highest chemosuppression of parasites of 73 % followed by Polyalthia longifolia (53 %) at day 4. All the doses tested were well tolerated. Percentage suppression of parasite growth on day 4 post-infection ranged from 1 to 73 % in mice infected with P. berghei and treated with extracts when compared with chloroquine diphosphate, the standard reference drug which had a chemosuppression of 90 %. The percentage survival of mice that received extract ranged from 0 to 60 % (increased as the dose increases to 800 mg/kg). Phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of tannins, saponins, and phenolic compounds in all the three plants tested.

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The use of trifoliate yam (Dioscorea dumetorum) flour for stiff dough 'amala' production is one of the ways to curb under-utilization of the tuber. The study evaluates the textural and sensory properties of trifoliate yam flour and stiff dough. Freshly harvested trifoliate yam tubers were peeled, washed, sliced and blanched (60 (°)C for 10 min). The sliced yam were soaked in water for 12 h, dried and milled into flour. Pasting viscosities, functional properties, brown index and sensory attributes of the flour and stiff dough were analyzed. Peak, holding strength and final viscosities ranged from 84.09 to 213.33 RVU, 81.25 to 157.00 RVU and 127.58 to 236.17 RVU respectively. White raw flour had higher viscosity than the yellow flours. The swelling index, water absorption capacity and bulk density ranged from 1.46 to 2.28, 2.11 to 2.92 ml H2O/g and 0.71 to 0.88 g/cm(3) respectively. Blanching method employed improved the swelling index and water absorption capacity of flour. The brown index values of flour and stiff dough ranged from 6.73 to 18.36 and 14.63-46.72 respectively. Sensory evaluation revealed significant differences in the colour, odour and general acceptability of the product when compared with the stiff dough from white yam.

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