The objective of the present study was to investigate phytochemical components, antiplasmodial activity (in vivo) and evaluate the toxicity of two local medicinal plants, namely, Salvadora persica L. and Balanites rotundifolia (Van Tiegh.) used in Afar ethnomedicine for the treatment of malaria. In this study, phytochemical screening has been done using standard methods and the existence of antiplasmodial compounds was detected in these plant extracts. Four-day Peter’s test was used to determine parasite inhibition, PCV was determined by Wintrob’s method, and effects against loss of body weight and improvements on survival time were determined. LD50s of the crude extracts have been also done. Acute toxicity studies of the extracts were carried out in Swiss albino mice prior to antimalarial activity test. All extracts revealed no obvious acute toxicities on mice up to the highest (5000mg/kg) dose given. The crude extract was estimated to have oral median lethal dose higher than 5,000 mg/kg. With the 4-day suppressive test, both plant extracts demonstrated dose-dependent significant reduction in parasitemia level at all test doses compared to the negative control: in the extract of B. rotundifolia 500 mg/kg extract (60.59±3.25%), 350 mg/kg extract (48.1±1.4), and 200 mg/kg extract (41.33±1.1%) were found. And in case of S. Persica 500 mg/kg extract (50.6±4.01%), 350 mg/kg extract (35.85±0.89), and 200 mg/kg extract (27.69±1.14%) were found. The results of this study provide support for the traditional therapeutic value and the reported antimalarial activity.

Primates are the mammals of the order Primate that is characterized by advanced development of binocular vision and enlargement of the cerebral hemispheres. The aim of this study was to investigate the abundance, diversity, and distribution of primates on Welel Mountain. From August 2017 to February 2018, we collected data from different parts of Welel Mountain during wet and dry seasons of the year and analyzed them using SPSS version 20. We identified four primate species: Chlorocebus aethiops, Cercopithecus mitis, Papio anubis, and Colobus guereza. We conducted t-test analysis for abundance and distribution of primates in wet and dry season of the year, and the P value obtained was 0.20. The mean percentages of primates in forest, woodland, and shrubs were 43.16%, 32.26%, and 24.58%, respectively. Shannon-Wiener diversity index (H′) value was higher in wet season than in dry season. The current study showed that the species are distributed more evenly in wet season than in dry season, and the number of young individuals is more than that of adults. This indicates that currently the status of primates population on Welel Mountain is good. Therefore, to keep the status of primates in the study area effective, wildlife management and conservation policy should be formulated.

People living in and around Ab’ala area of the Afar Regional State, Ethiopia, have a traditional practice of applying Ficus carica leaf and Solanum incanum fruit extracts to milk in order to coagulate it as soon as possible. Thus, to investigate the role of the extracts in the coagulation of milk and their health threats, the milk-clotting activity, phytochemical screening tests, antimicrobial activities by the agar well diffusion method, and heavy metal content by ICP-OES technique were determined. Accordingly, both Ficus carica and Solanum incanum were found to possess phenolics, saponins, and tannins. Likewise, positive tests for flavonoid in Ficus carica and alkaloid in Solanum incanum were observed. However, no terpenoids, glycosides, and oxalates were detected in the plants. Moreover, the crude and concentrated enzyme extracts of the plants exhibited clotting activity. In this regard, the enzyme extracts of Ficus carica were superior with the highest clotting activity of 1.20 U. On the other hand, ethanol and chloroform extracts of the samples showed inhibition zones against all tested microorganisms except their chloroform extract which did not exhibit inhibition against Escherichia coli and Aspergillus niger. Likewise, the metals Cr, Cd, Mn, Cu, and Fe were detected in the plant samples, with the Mn content of 3.67±0.10 mg per kg of dry weight of the plant in Ficus carica being the highest. Indeed, the level of the heavy metal contents is considerably lower than those maximum permissible limits set by international standards. On the other hand, no Pb and Zn were detected in the plant samples. Therefore, the higher clotting activity of the enzyme extracts was an indicator that enzymes, rather than other phytochemicals, are the most probable agents responsible for the milk-clotting ability of the plants, resulting in the formation of cheese. Furthermore, the growth inhibition to most of the test microbes is a manifestation that bacterial fermentation is not a means of clotting the milk as bacteria introduced to the milk would be killed by the sample extracts. Moreover, the use of the plants in the coagulation process would not pose health threats as far as oxalate and metal toxicity is concerned.

Contribution/Originality: This study contributes in the existing literature by providing information regarding the antimicrobial (selected bacterial and fungal pathogens) efficacy potential of Solanum incanum and Datura stramonium crude extract. INTRODUCTIONPeople in impoverished as well as in developed countries use medicinal plants as a source of drugs or as a source of herbal extracts for various therapeutic purposes (Verma and Singh, 2008). The practice of using plant based natural compounds as part of herbal formulation and as another sources of medicine remains to play major role in maintaining the health of people around the globe. Majority of the world population relying on traditional medicinal plants for some aspects of primary health care. The applications of such medicinal plants may, however, varies in the way of application from taking the roots, barks, stems, leaves and seeds to the use of extracts and

The aim of the present study was to investigate the antibacterial and antifungal activities of crude extracts of Vernonia amygdalina and Croton macrostachyus against four bacterial pathogenic species (i.e. Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus agalactiae, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli) and two fungal pathogenic species (i.e. Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus niger). Antimicrobial activities of the resulting extracts were determined by measuring zone of inhibitions on cultures of six selected pathogens using the disc diffusion method. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the two plant extracts against the same pathogens was determined using the broth dilution method. Chloroamphenicol was used as positive control for for bacterial pathogen and Tilt was also used as positive controls fungal pathogens. Meanwhile Dimethyl Sulfoxide was taken as a negative control for both. Highest percentage yield was recorded for methanol extract of V. amygdalina (14.89±0.25%) and the lowest yield was observed for the water extract of V. amygdalina (4.58±0.27). All the methanolic and ethanolic crude extracts had the highest growth inhibitory effects as compared with the water crude extracts on all bacterial pathogens. The methanol crude extract of C. macrostachyus had highest zone of inhibition (21±0.29 mm) against S. aureus, with a minimum inhibitory concentration of 25mg/ml. Similarly, the ethanol crude extract of C. macrostachyus had shown highest antifungal activity against A. niger with inhibition zone of 15.5±0.29. The results indicate the potential of these medicinal plants in treating some bacterial and fungal infection. Thus, further detailed studies are recommended to be carried out to characterize their bioactive compounds for development of new effective antimicrobial drugs.