Abstract: Essential oils and their components are increasingly spreading as naturally occurring antimicrobial agents. In this work the chemical composition and the antimicrobial properties of Pinus patula essential oils, a wild Pinaceae, which grows in several regions of Rwanda, were characterized and assessed. The essential oil was obtained by steam distillation and the chemical composition was determined using GC/MS. The in vitro antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was studied against two Gram-negative bacteria (Streptococcus pyogenis, Pseudomonas solanacearum) and one Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus) and two fungi (Pycularia oryzae, Colletotrichum coffeanum) using a broth macrodilution method and by agar diffusion method. During the chemical composition analysis, seventy-four components making up 99.11% of the oil were detected while only fifty components making up 95.70% of the oil were characterized, β-phellandrene (18.98%), α-pinene (15.91%), bornyl acetate (7.89%), β-caryophyllene (7.41%), limonene (5.67%) being the major constituents. The results of the in vitro antimicrobial assay showed that essential oil extracted from the rwandese Pinus patula has a strong activity against all tested bacteria and fungi, exception done to Colletotrichum coffeanum fungi.Abstract: Essential oils and their components are increasingly spreading as naturally occurring antimicrobial agents. In this work the chemical composition and the antimicrobial properties of Pinus patula essential oils, a wild Pinaceae, which grows in several regions of Rwanda, were characterized and assessed. The essential oil was obtained by steam distill...Show More
Abstract: In Nigeria, malaria is a major public health problem and there are high cost of the effective antimalarial drugs, poor quality drugs and increased emergence of Plasmodial resistance. Thus, there is a need for alternative source of medicine in malaria treatment and prevention. The antimalarial potential of aqueous leaf extracts of Cymbopogon citratus was investigated in this present study. Twenty five Swiss albino rats with average weight of 30.80g were distributed into five groups (A, B, C, D and E) with five mice per group. Group B was infected with 0.2 ml O+ human parasitized blood of Plasmodium falciparum and 0.1ml Chloroquine (Bini Laboratories Pvt Ltd). Group C, D, and E were infected with 0.2 ml O+ human parasitized blood of Plasmodium falciparum treated with 40 mg/kg, 80 mg/kg and 120 mg/kg of Cymbopogon citratus extracts respectively for three days. The mice infected with 0.2 ml O+ human parasitized blood of Plasmodium falciparum were observed for 72 hours for general symptoms of malaria. The mice tail was punctured, blood was examined under light microscope (x10) resolution) and several malaria parasites were found. Significant decrease of parasitemia levels was observed in 120 mg/kg body weight treated group compared to 0.1 ml Chloroquine the positive control. The result showed that Cymbopogon citratus possessed a good antimalarial property and can be use for prophylactic and chemotherapeutic purposes.Abstract: In Nigeria, malaria is a major public health problem and there are high cost of the effective antimalarial drugs, poor quality drugs and increased emergence of Plasmodial resistance. Thus, there is a need for alternative source of medicine in malaria treatment and prevention. The antimalarial potential of aqueous leaf extracts of Cymbopogon citratu...Show More
