Role Of Plants In The Treatment Of Diseases Caused By Micro-Organisms
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Role Of Plants In The Treatment Of Diseases Caused By Micro-Organisms
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of Study
1.1.1 Phyllanthus
This is a genus in the family Euphorbiaceae. It first appeared in Central and Southern India in the 18th century. It is known as bring me seed, stone-breaker, windbreaker, gulf leaf flower, or gala of wind (Bharatiya 1992).
The Euphorbiaceae family has approximately 300 genera and 5,000 species worldwide. Phyllantus is a genus that belongs to this huge family. Phyllantus comprises approximately 750-800 species that live in tropical and subtropical climates.
Green medicine is safer and more reliable than expensive synthetic medications, which can have negative side effects (Joseph and Raj, 2010). Humans have historically used medicinal plants to treat ailments.
Screening molecules extracted from plants for pharmacological action has resulted in the identification of numerous medicinal medicines.
Over 50% of all current chemical medications are derived from natural plant products, making them essential in pharmaceutical drug research programs (Burton et al 1983).
1.1.2 Phyllanthus amarus (P. amarus)
P. amarus is an erect annual plant that grows to be no taller than one and a half feet, with little leaves and yellow flowers. It is a diverse medicinal plant that has gained global recognition (Srividiya and Perival, 1995).
P. amarus has been used in herbal therapy to treat jaundice, diabetes, otitis, diarrhoea, oedema, skin ulcers, gastrointestinal disorders, and to inhibit DNA polymerase during hepatitis B virus reproduction (Oluwafemi and Debiri, 2008).
In Nigeria, it is termed “Oyomokeisoamankedem” in Efik, “Iyin Olobe” in Yoruba, and “Ebebenizo” in Bini (Etta, 2008). It is utilised in traditional medicine for its hepatoprotective, antidiabetic, antihypertensive, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial effects (Adeneye et al., 2006).
The plant is also used to heal stomach issues, skin ailments, and colds (Kokwaro, 1976; Iwu, 1993). It possesses antidiarrheal properties (Odetola and Akojenu, 2000).
It has been shown to have antiviral action against the hepatitis B virus (Thyagarajan et al; 1988, Wang et al; 1995), anticarcinogenic (Joy and Kuttan, 1998), antimutagenic (Joy and Kuttan, 1998), and antiplasmodial properties (Soh et al. 2009).
Plants contain a variety of components, some of which can be hazardous. This toxicity has been documented in plants (Santox et al., 1995; Shaw et al., 1997; Kaplowitz, 1997). P. amarus has been classed as a plant with a modest potential for toxicity, with an LD50 of 2000mg/kg 1day (Krithika and Verma 2009).
1.1.3 Phyllantus Niruri (P. niruri)
P. niruri is also known as “Chanca piedra” or stonebreaker. It belonged to the Euphorbiaceae family. P. niruri is similar to P. amarus. It is a widely distributed tropical plant that grows 40-70cm tall (Chukwuma, 2012).
In Nigeria, it is known as enyikwonwa and ngwu in Ibo, Oyokeso amanke edem in Efik, geeron-tsemtsaayee in Hausa, and ehin olobe and yin-olobe in Yoruba (Chukwuma, 2012).
Although P. niruri is seen as a nuisance weed by formers, it is an important medicinal plant. (Oudhia and Tripathi, 2002), and is well-regarded in both the Ayurvedic and Unani medical systems. It has recently gained interest from researchers due to its hepatoprotective (ability to prevent liver damage) characteristics.
There is no effective specific medication for viral Hepatitis, although P. niruri has demonstrated clinical efficacy in viral Hepatitis B (Paranjape, 2001).
P. niruri is an annual plant with an angular stem and numerous distichous, elliptic-oblong leaves. blooms are yellow and abundant; monoecious, with 1-3 staminate blooms and a single pistillate flower borne axillary.
Fruit capsules are very tiny, globose, and smooth, with three-gonous seeds that are longitudinally ribbed on their back. The seed to seed cycle lasts two to four weeks (Caius 1986; Agharkar 1991).
Its roots, leaves, fruits, milky fluid, and entire plant are used as medicine. According to the Ayurvedic system of medicine, it is caustic, cooling, aleixipharmic, and beneficial in thirst, bronchitis, leprosy, anaemia, urinary distention, anuria, boiliousness, asthma, hiccups, and as a diuretic.
According to the Unani system of medicine, it is stomachic, helpful for ulcers, and beneficial in Chromic dysentery. Fruits can treat tubercular ulcers, wounds, sores, scabies, and ringworm (Agharkar 1991; Krishanamurty 1993). The fresh root is thought to be an effective treatment for jaundice.
It is widely used to treat snake bites throughout India. Rastogi and Mehrotra (1991) extracted the active chemicals phyllanthin and hypophyllanthim, as well as nirtetralin and phyltetralin, from the leaves
. The plant serves as a fish poison. In many places of India, particularly in the deserts, the roots mixed with Commiphora mukul are fed to camels to treat indigestion. The decoction of leaves and stems is used to dye cotton black (Singh et al., 1996).
P. niruri is a medicinal plant used to cure malaria in India and Nigeria. P. niruri has been traditionally used to cure a variety of ailments, including kidney stones, gastrointestinal disturbances, cough, hepatitis, gonorrhoea, fever, and malaria.
It has also been shown to have hypoglycemia activity (Hukuri et al; 1988), angiotension converting enzyme inhibition (Ueno et al; 1988), lipid-lowering activity (Khanna et al; 2002), anti-HIV activity (Qian cutron et al; 1996), and anti-cancer activity (Giridharan et al; 2002).
1.2 Aim and Objectives of the study
The purpose of this study is to determine which of the plants listed above is more beneficial in the treatment of diseases caused by microorganisms due to the natural compounds found in them.
The precise objectives include:
a. Determine the antibacterial action of P. amarus and P. niruri.
b. Determine the antifungal activity of P. amarus and P. niruri.
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