Medicinal & Aromatic Plants
Open Access

Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Technology, The University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica

Publications

• Research Article   
  The Ethnopharmacological Effects of Crude Extracts from Smilax balbisiana (Chainy Root) Rhizomes
  Author(s): Davia A. Peddie, Camille S. Bowen-Forbes and Ruby L. Alexander-Lindo*
  
  In the present study, the hexane, ethyl acetate and methanol crude extracts of Smilax balbisiana rhizomes were screened for their hypoglycaemic activity using the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT) at 300 mg/kg Body Weight (BW). All three crude extracts showed significant post-prandial hypoglycaemic activity when compared with their respective controls (p≤0.05). However, the hexane extract reduced the blood glucose concentration at the glycaemic peak but not as effective as glibenclamide (positive control). The 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical scavenging assay was used to determine the antioxidant activity where the ethyl acetate (IC50=32.48 μg/mL) and methanol (IC50=58.36 μg/mL) extracts produced moderate inhibition of DPPH radicals when compared with ascorbic acid (IC50=15.88 μg/mL). .. View More»
  

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