Microscopic Studies, Phytochemical and Biological Screenings of <i>Ocimum canum</i>

Abstract

It has been reported that more than 80% of the African population uses traditional medicine to primary healthcare.The aim of the study was to determine the histological elements, the phytochemical composition and evaluate the bioactivities of Ocimum canum in order to promote this plant used in Congolese traditional medicine. The earthworms were collected from the ponds of the secondary forest of Monastère Prieure Notre Dame de l'Assomption in Kinshasa city and the blood used in this study was provided by the Centre de Médecine Mixte et d'Anémie SS in Yolo-Sud quarter, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The histological elements were determined by microscopic examination while different metabolites were determined using thin layer chromatography. Microscopic examination revealed the presence of crystalliferous fibres, fragment of parenchyma, grandular and non-glandular pluricellular trichomes, spheroidal pollen grains, diacytic stomata, spiral vessels. With regard to chromatographic analysis, phytochemicals identified were anthocyanins, coumarins, flavonoids, terpenoids and iridoids. The extracts from O. canum showed good antihelminthic, antisickling and antioxidant activities related to their phytochemicalsAll these findings constitute a scientific evidence validating the use of this medicinal plant for the management of various ailments in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A Review of Medicinal Plants with Antiviral Activity Available in Bangladesh and Mechanistic Insight Into Their Bioactive Metabolites on SARS-CoV-2, HIV and HBV

“…Rosmarinic acid and oleanolic acid are the essential oils isolated from this herb. Oleanolic acid inhibits HIV-I protease whereas rosmarinic acid inhibits internal ribosome entry site of EV-71 ( Aluko et al, 2012 ; Chung et al, 2015 ; Pandey et al, 2017 ; Tshilanda et al, 2019 ). O. africanum produces caffeic acid which inhibits the multiplication HSV-I.…”

“…Maturation of newly released virions is mandatory for attaining infectivity which involves protease enzyme-regulated proteolytic cleavage. This protease enzyme is inhibited by oleanolic acid ( Tshilanda et al, 2019 ). Apart from these, immune deficiency is observed in HIV-infected patients because of decreasing the number of CD4 + lymphocytes which is actually the results of plasma membrane disruption and subsequent cell death.…”

“…This HbeAg level is an indicator of predicting that the patient is whether infectious to others or not ( Grimm et al, 2011 ). Piperine, ursolic acid, oleanolic acid, and (+)-cycloolivil-4′-O-β-d-glucopyranoside have been testified to decrease the synthesis of HbsAg and HbeAg in many studies ( Zhou et al, 2015 ; Tshilanda et al, 2019 ; Liu et al, 2020 ). Quercetin has also been reported to decrease their synthesis by 60% ( Parvez et al, 2020 ).…”

Antihelminthic Activity, Phytochemical Profile and Microscopic Features of Ocimum basilicum Collected in DR Congo

“…TLC was performed according to the standard protocol described by Wagner based on the observation of spots of various colours to identify different secondary metabolites [15,16,17] as follows:…”