Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pharmacological Studies —
The
Mitragyna
alkaloids have been shown to possess pharmaco-
logical activities resembling those attributed to the crude drug in traditional medicine. The oxin-
doles rhynchophylline, mitraversine, and mitraphylline have been shown to have antihypertensive
and local anesthetic activity and to decrease the rhythm of the heart.
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Mitragynine has been credited
with analgesic properties equivalent to those of codeine but without any of the side effects of the opi-
ate;
33
the compound is also reported as being hallucinogenic.
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The alkaloids possess antiprotozoal
activity and strong stimulatory action on the contractility of intestine and uterine muscles.
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MOLLUGO NUDICAULIS
Botanical Name —
Mollugo nudicaulis
Lam
.
Synonym —
Lampetia nudicaulis
(Lam.) Raf.
Family —
Molluginaceae
Common Name —
Daisy-leaved chickweed
African Name —
Hausa: narba
Description —
Mollugo
is an erect weed and is small, rarely exceeding 30 cm in height. The
leaves are long oval in shape, widening toward the apex and rounded, and the base is wedge shaped.
The leaves form a rosette on the ground. The flowers are whitish green, small, and borne on long,
terminal, thin stalks of many ascending branches. The fruits occur as small capsules with many
warty seeds.
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Habitat and Distribution —
This occurs in deciduous forests and is distributed from Sierra
Leone to South Africa.
Ethnomedicinal Uses —
The whole herb is used as a cough remedy and is reputed to be effec-
tive in the treatment of whooping cough. The leaves are macerated in water to which some lime
juice has been added and drunk as a worm expeller.
Constituents —
The plant is rich in flavonoids and related phenolic compounds. It also contains
CNGs, terpenes, and saponins. The total phenolic content (TPC) of the methanolic and aqueous
extracts of leaves was 47.01 ± 0.8 and 46.4 ± 0.05 mg/100 g, respectively. The total flavonoid content
(TFC) from the methanolic and aqueous extracts of leaves has been estimated to be 41.3 ± 0.04 and
36.2 ± 0.01 mg/100 g, respectively.
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Pharmacological Studies —
The methanolic and aqueous extracts of the leaves have been
shown to possess significant antioxidant properties, with IC
50
values of DPPH radical scavenging as
48 and 190 μg/ml, respectively. In the 2,2-azinobis-3-ethylbenzo-thiazoline-6-sulfonate (ABTS) rad-
ical scavenging assay, the IC
50
values for the methanolic and aqueous extracts were 83 and 198.3 μg/
ml, respectively. The same extracts were found to have antimicrobial activities against
Pseudomonas
aeruginosa
,
Proteus
sp.,
Streptococcus
sp., and
Entrobacter
sp.
1113
The plant has shown a protective
effect against acute liver injury induced by perchloroethylene in experimental rats.
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