1.0 INTRODUCTION
Daturastramoniumis an annual herb, with
stem erect and spreading branches above. It is common in the waste
land, fields and gardens in Baghdad district. Leaves, seeds and roots
contain the alkaloid daturine (a mixture of the two alkaloids
hyoscyamine and atropine) and also contain scopolamine alkaloid
(Hyosine) acids, tannin and fatty oil. Plants are rich source of
secondary metabolites with interesting biological activities (Palombo
and Semple, 2001; Koduruet al., 2006). Several plant products have been
shown to exert a protective role or after ingesting freshly harvested
maize that will be used for ensiling and heavily contaminated with young
D. stramonium.
Successful extraction is largely dependent on
the type of solvent used in the extraction procedure. The most often
tested extracts are: water extract as a sample of extract that are
primarily used in traditional medicine and extracts from organic
solvents such as methanol, ethanol as well as ethyl acetate, acetone,
chloroform, dichlorme-thane (Alveset al., 2000; Palombo and Semple,
2001; Uzunet al., 2004; Cos et al., 2006; Ncubeet al., 2008;
Stanojevićet al., 2010). Considering the high economical and
pharmacological importance of secondary plant metabolites, industries
are deeply interested in utilizing plant tissue culture technique for
large scale production of these substances.
Man has made use
of various parts of plants in the treatment and prevention of various
ailments (Shagaletal., 2012). Traditional and folklore medicines play
important roles in health services around the globe. About three quarter
of the world’s population rely on plants for health care (Premanathanet
al., 2000; Gabheet al., 2006).
A World Health Organization
survey indicated that about 70-80% of the world’s population rely on
nonconventional medicine, mainly of herbal source, in their primary
healthcare (WHO, 2007). Most of these herbal remedies have stood the
test of time, particularly for the treatment of allergic, metabolic and
cardiovascular diseases. (Igoliet al., 2005).
The interest in
the scientific investigation of medicinal plants from Nigeria is based
on the claims of their effective use for the treatment of many diseases.
Therefore research into the effects of these local medicinal plants is
expected to enhance their use against diseases caused by these
microorganisms (Sofowora, 1993, Johnson et al., 2011). The use of
medicinal herbs in the treatment and prevention of diseases is
attracting scientists’ attention worldwide. This is corroborated by
World Health Organization in its quest to bring primary health care to
the populace (Falodunet al., 2006, Ameenet al., 2010).
In
Nigeria, nearly all plants are associated with some medicinal values.
The use of plants especially in traditional medicine is currently well
recognized and accepted in Nigerian health care practice (Hassan and
Kamba, 2010). Plants usually contain phytochemicals which are active
substances technically referred to as drugs, and over the years these
drugs have been exploited as traditional medicine for the treatment of
various ailments afflicting man (Shagalet al., 2012)
