Gold Mine in Indigenous Vegetables: The Case of Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia Occidentalis Hook. F.) for Economic Growth

Odiaka, N. I.; Odiaka, E.C.

doi:10.17660/actahortic.2011.911.31

Cited by 4 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…TO is a popular vegetable cultivated widely in Nigeria and belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae. 6 Phytochemically, it contains tannins, alkaloids, terpenoids, and flavanoids, saponins. [7][8][9] This vegetable may sometimes contain a lot of heavy metals as a result of contamination by heavy metal pollutants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hepatoprotective potential of the aqueous leaf extract of Telfairia occidentalis on the Liver function parameters in Adult Wistar Rats

Ogbodo¹,

Ezejindu²,

Ezeugwunne³

et al. 2020

AGEMS

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Leafy vegetables are important items of diet in every home and a number of them are medicinal plants that have been used for curing diseases and have been documented in history of civilization. The current study was aimed at assessing the hepatoprotective potential of the aqueous leaf extract of Telfairia occidentalis(TO) on the Liver function parameters in Adult Wistar Rats. The sixteen rats used for this study were randomized into groups A, B,C and D. Rats in groups B, C and D were treated with 150, 300 and 600mg/kg.bwt of the leaf extract respectively by intubation for 28 days while group A served as control. Aspartate amino transferase (AST), alanine amino transferase (ALT), and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities were determined using standard laboratory methods. There was a significant reduction in mean body weight (p<0.05), and increase in serum activity of AST and ALP respectively (p<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the mean serum ALT activity (p>0.05) in the treated groups compared with control respectively. Therefore, it could be concluded that aqueous leaf extract of TO has hepatoprotective effect.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hepatoprotective potential of the aqueous leaf extract of Telfairia occidentalis on the Liver function parameters in Adult Wistar Rats

Ogbodo¹,

Ezejindu²,

Ezeugwunne³

et al. 2020

AGEMS

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“…Odiaka et al . (2008) alluded to farmers in the middle belt region of Nigeria obtaining seeds of fluted pumpkin from the south-eastern part of the country. As stated by McBenedict et al .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In several areas of southern Nigeria, it is commonly cultivated adjacent to walls, fences, trees or underneath trellised platforms which allow the vine to creep undisturbed (Okoli and Mgbeogu, 1983). Fluted pumpkin is mainly grown for its seeds, succulent shoots and leaves (Odiaka et al ., 2008). The pleasant, tasty leaves and tender shoots are picked continuously, chopped and added to soups solely or combined with other leafy vegetables (Okoli and Mgbeogu, 1983).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The leaves are rich in essential amino acids, minerals, vitamins and proteins (Cyril-Olutayo et al ., 2019). Oils derived from the seeds have been documented as potential feedstock for the manufacture of vegetable oils, margarine, soaps, candles and lubricants (Agatemor, 2006; Odiaka et al ., 2008). The cultivation of fluted pumpkin constitutes a significant commercial activity that generates a high monthly revenue of NGN145,309.1 (approximately USD 350) for many small-holder farmers in southern Nigeria (Ajayi et al ., 2004; Odiaka et al ., 2008; Chukwudi and Agbo, 2016; Aisida et al ., 2021; Osuji et al ., 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Start codon-targeted marker evaluation of genetic relationship and population structure in southern Nigerian fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook F.) collection

Aworunse

Popoola

Paliwal

et al. 2022

Plant Genet. Resour.

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Fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook F.) is an underutilized indigenous leafy vegetable with enormous prospects for food security in sub-Saharan Africa. However, relatively little is known about genetic relationships and population structure in the species. In this study, 32 landraces of fluted pumpkin collected across three southern geographical regions in Nigeria were assessed for genetic diversity and population structure using 8 start codon-targeted (SCoT) makers. The polymorphic information content of the SCoT markers ranged from 0.48 in SCoT36 to 0.94 in SCoT28, with an average of 0.77. Hierarchical cluster dendrogram based on Ward's method and principal component analysis grouped the landraces into four clusters without affiliation to provenance. Overall, the mean values of the population genetic diversity parameters – Nei's gene diversity (H) and Shannon's information index (I) showed values of 0.28 ± 0.01 and 0.43 ± 0.02, respectively, implying a narrow genetic base for the landraces. The result was further corroborated by a very close Nei's genetic distance and identity among populations of the landraces. Furthermore, the south-west population exhibited the higher genetic diversity (H = 0.31 ± 0.02 and I = 0.45 ± 0.03). Population structure analysis inferred three subpopulations for the accessions with varying degrees of allelic admixture. An analysis of molecular variance revealed that almost all the genetic variation occurred within (99%) than between (1%) populations. The findings shed light on the genetic diversity of southern Nigerian fluted pumpkin and have significant implications for the characterisation, conservation, exploitation and improvement of the species.

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“…They are also administered after delivery to stimulate milk secretion in women [23]. The leaves were previously shown to possess hypoglycaemic properties [24-27].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anti-hyperglycaemic globulins from selected Cucurbitaceae seeds used as antidiabetic medicinal plants in Africa

Teugwa

Boudjeko

Tchinda

et al. 2013

BMC Complement Altern Med

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BackgroundThe recent epidemic of diabetes mellitus (DM) in Africa, coupled with rampant poverty, is an indication of the urgent need to develop new efficacious, cheaper and more available drugs to face this growing public health challenge. A number of plants products among which the protein-rich Cucurbitaceae seeds are commonly used in traditional medicine with increasing acclaimed efficacy against DM. The aim of this study was to analyse and evaluate the hypoglycaemic activity of storage proteins of five species of Cucurbitaceae, which include Telfairia occidentalis, Citrullus lanatus, Lagenaria siceraria, Cucumeropsis mannii and Cucurbita moschata.MethodsThe different families of storage proteins were extracted following differential solubility, and their contents were estimated using the Bradford method. The analysis of these proteins was done by electrophoresis in non-denaturing and denaturing conditions. The evaluation of hypoglycaemic properties of various globulins extracted was performed on male Wistar rats by the oral glucose tolerance test.ResultsThe results showed that among the proteins extracted, globulins constitute the most abundant class of storage proteins in all five species selected. Citrullus lanatus and Cucurbita moschata presented the highest levels of globulin (275.34 and 295.11 mg/g dry matter, respectively). The results of electrophoresis showed that all species possess acidic and neutrals albumins and globulins, with molecular weight of protein subunits ranging from 6.36-44.11 kDa for albumins, 6.5-173.86 kDa for globulins and 6.5-49.66 kDa for glutelins. The 6.36 kDa of albumin subunit protein and the 6.5 kDa of globulin subunit protein were present in all the species. The oral glucose tolerance test showed that the globulins of the seeds of all species except Cucumeropsis mannii caused significant drop in blood sugar (88 – 137.80%, compared to the controls, p<0.05).ConclusionsThese findings showed that the selected Cucurbitaceae seeds contained globulins with significant anti-hyperglycaemic activity. It is therefore highly encouraged to pursue investigations towards development of peptide-drugs and/or phytomedicines from these bioactive proteins which could be used as affordable alternative therapy against DM.

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Gold Mine in Indigenous Vegetables: The Case of Fluted Pumpkin (Telfairia Occidentalis Hook. F.) for Economic Growth

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Hepatoprotective potential of the aqueous leaf extract of Telfairia occidentalis on the Liver function parameters in Adult Wistar Rats

Hepatoprotective potential of the aqueous leaf extract of Telfairia occidentalis on the Liver function parameters in Adult Wistar Rats

Start codon-targeted marker evaluation of genetic relationship and population structure in southern Nigerian fluted pumpkin (Telfairia occidentalis Hook F.) collection

Anti-hyperglycaemic globulins from selected Cucurbitaceae seeds used as antidiabetic medicinal plants in Africa

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