In this study, phenolic compounds were extracted from roots of Balanites aegyptiaca, seeds of Hagenia abyssinica and roots of Cisuss petiolata using 95% ethanol. The crude ethanolic extracts of the studied species were subjected to paper chromatography. In this way compound I was isolated from the roots of Balanites aegyptiaca. The structure of this isolate was elucidated by a combination of spectral techniques (UV, IR, NMR and MS) and the following tentative structure was proposed:
ABSTRACT Plants remain a major source of novel drugs for the treatment of various diseases like cancer. The search for safe anticancer drugs from plants has led to the discovery of camptothecin and taxol. Smilax kraussiana is used in herbal medicine to treat tumors, veneral and skin diseases. Many plants including S. kraussiana are still underexploited despite their ethnomedicinal properties. This study was designed to isolate and characterise the constituents of S. kraussiana, synthesise ac...
ABSTRACT The oldest system of tanning relies on the chemical action of vegetable materials containing tannin and tannic acid on the protein constituents of skin or hides.
Abstract Plant-based repellents have been used for generations in traditional practices as a personal protection measures against host seeking insects like mosquitoes. Knowledge on traditional repellent plants obtained through ethnobotanical studies, is a valuable resource for the development of natural and environmental safe products. Recently, commercial repellents containing plant based ingredients have gained increasing popularity among customers. These are commonly perceived as ‘safe�...
ABSTRACT Human activities (including agriculture) contribute to enhance release of primary greenhouse gases (GHGs) (CH4, CO2, N2O) into the atmosphere leading to global warming. Sugarcane is an important economic crop in Kenya being third highest contributor to gross domestic product (GDP) after tea and coffee. About 90% of Kenya‘s production is contributed by smallholders. To improve/maximize sugarcane yields, farmers convert natural vegetation to sugarcane farms; apply nitrogen fertilizer...
Abstract Synthetic sex pheromones could provide valuable alternative means of pest control in Integrated Pest Management (IPM) strategies. Their uses could include population monitoring with pheromone traps to guide other control methods, by mass trapping and mating disruption. (Z)-ll-Hexadecenal (Z-11-C4Hg CH=CH (CHZ) 9 CHO) and (Z)-llhexadecen- l-ol (Z-ll-C/H",CH=CH(CH1 )oCH10H), the major components of '1 £ J £. spotted stalk borer, Chilo pert el Lue (swinhoe) fernale sex pheromone, were...
Abstract Preliminary validation of the extracts for bioactivity revealed that the n-hexane, DCM and MeOH extracts of the stem bark of L. eriocalyx were active against P. falciparum, A. gambie larvae, B. anthracis, and A. niger. This formed the the basis of fractionation of these crude extracts whereby lupeol (27), quercetin (65), apigenin (68) friedelin (133), -sitosterol (134), lupenone (135), -sitosterol-3-O-glucoside (136), chrysin (137) morinhydrate (138), quercetin-3-O-glucoside (1...
ABSTRACT Greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions data from large-scale agricultural activities are available. In developing countries, e.g. Kenya, agriculture is dominated by smallholder farming, data on the assessment of possible contributions of smallholder agriculture to GHG emissions and GHG fluxes data from smallholder farming systems in the tropics is scarce. The study area is a 10 square km area also called the ―Lower Nyando Block‖ in Western Kenya. The basin varies in landscapes (low la...
Abstract Preliminary bioassay analysis was done on all parts of the three plants under study as explained in section 4.2.1. The antiplasmodial activity of the DCM extract of the leaves of E. abyssinica was significantly high (p≤0.05) against W2 and D6 clones of P. falciparum with IC50 values 165.1 and 215.1 g/mL, respectively. Similarly, the DCM extract of the stem bark of L. eriocalyx showed high activity (p≤0.05) of 423.0 and 365.2 g/mL against the two clones. Likewise, the DCM ex...
ABSTRACT Use of contaminated water risks human lives hence should be treated to meet drinking water quality guidelines. The most applied technique is municipal water treatment technology (MWTT) though inaccessible in peri-urban/rural settings leading to use of untreated water like borehole waters. Desirable water treatment processes need to be developed for provision of portable water. Local materials such as Moringa oleifera seed, activated clay, activated charcoal and natural zeolite have b...
Abstract The impact of potentially toxic metals (PTM) on humans and other organisms depends on their concentration, toxicity and bioavailability, which in turn, depend in part on reactivity and solubility. The total concentrations of PTM do not determine the mobility, bioavailability and uptake by plants but the fraction of these metals in soils or sediments, hence the development of sequential extraction method which has been widely used for speciation or fractionation studies. The limitatio...
ABSTRACT Sugarcane is an important cash crop in Kenya. Due to its economic value, efforts are in progress to increase its production. The efforts include intense use of fertilizers, besides the use of high-yielding varieties. The intense use of fertilizers adds heavy metals to the sugarcane growing soils. The sugarcane plants can bioaccumulate heavy metals from soils to levels above safe limits. Metal levels in soil and factors such as soil pH and soil organic matter (SOM) influence levels of...
ABSTRACT Plant-derived compounds could exhibit a direct and/or an indirect antimicrobial activity as antimicrobial resistance modifying compounds. Their effectiveness could further be increased when combined with other bioactive compounds or antibiotics (synergy). A systematic search for plant-derived bioactive compounds, including those which can synergistically act with other bioactive compounds or antibiotics, as resistance modifying agents represents a potential approach to overcoming mic...
ABSTRACT Management of parasitic disease continues to be a burden and a major public health problem the world over today. Malaria is most lethal of the parasitic vector-borne diseases due to drug and vector resistance to the available chemotherapeutics and vector management strategies, respectively. Bacterial and fungal infections are opportunistic to persons with compromised immunity yet the available drugs are associated with occasional treatment failures while antibiotic resistance is grow...
ABSTRACT Lake Victoria is the largest freshwater and fishery lake in Africa. Kisumu City on the Winam Gulf has industrial activities that dispose of their effluents into the lake which may contaminate aquatic species thus threatening human health. It is not known fully if these anthropogenic activities adversely change the water quality and contribute heavy metal pollutants to the lake water and/or cause high accumulation of the metals in sediments and fish from the gulf. The study employed a...