The present study investigated the presence and level of pesticide residues in wheat and khat samples collected from various localities of Ethiopia. The khat samples from Galemso and Aseno had p,p'-DDT concentrations ranged from 141.2 to 973.0 μg/Kg and 194.3-999.0 μg/Kg, respectively. Diazinon was detected in all the khat samples from BadaBuna (173.9-686.9 μg/Kg) but not in any of the samples from Galemso and Aseno. Diazinon was detected in all the wheat samples obtained from both Arsi and Bale (125.8 and 125.6 μg/Kg, respectively) and aldrin levels in these samples were below the quantification limit. Khat may be a contributing factor in the pathological diseases found among khat users.

No abstract

A high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) method was developed and validated for determination of two anti-asthmatic drugs, salmeterol xinafoate and fluticasone propionate in co-formulations. Study was performed on pre-coated silica gel HPTLC plates using n-hexane:ethyl acetate:acetic acid (5:10:0.2) as a mobile phase. A TLC scanner set at 250 nm was used for direct evaluation of the chromatograms in reflectance/absorbance mode. Method was validated according to ICH guidelines. Determination coefficients of calibration curves were found 0.9977 and 0.9936 in the ranges 100-1000 and 200-2000 ng band(-1) for salmeterol and fluticasone, respectively. Method had an accuracy of 99.5% for salmeterol and 102.01% for fluticasone. Method had the potential to determine these drugs simultaneously from dosage forms without any interference.