European Journal of Medicinal Plants

Different plant extracts are used in Africa by the population as treatment for malaria. The antiplasmodial effect of the ethanol extract and fractions of Triclisia macrophylla was thus evaluated using Swiss albino mice 15-25 g. The mice were challenged with different doses of the extract and its n-hexane and butanol fractions in separate curative and suppressive tests. Results showed that the extracts exhibited significant (p˂0.001) antiplasmodial activity which was in a dose dependent manner. They also showed 28% of chemosuppression and 23.4% and 20.2% for the n-hexane and butanol fractions and 20.2% for the 1500mg/kg/day dose of the extract. The mean survival time of the animal groups treated with the extracts were also significant (p˂0.001) relative to the control. The LD₅₀ test result confirmed that the plant is relatively safe as the animals that were given a high dose of 5000 mg/kg survived while initial phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponins, tannins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, terpenes and alkaloids. The trado-medicinal use of this plant for the treatment of malaria is justified and its potential for further exploration in antimalarial therapy is acknowledged.