Jane Namukobe
Lecturer
Title: Bioprospecting for anti-malarials from traditional plants used for medicinal purposes by local communities around the Northern sector of Kibale National Park, Uganda
Biography
Biography: Jane Namukobe
Abstract
The study was done to document medicinal plants used in the treatment of various diseases by the people in the Northern sector of Kibale National Park in western Uganda. The required information was obtained using open interviews, semi-structured questionnaires, and focus group discussions and transects walks. Different medicinal plants (131 species) distributed over 55 families were observed to be used by the local communities around the Northern sector of Kibale National Park. The plants are used to treat 43 physical illnesses/diseases. The most used parts of the plants are the leaves. It was observed that the people in the study area have a rich heritage of traditional plants that are used in the health care system to treat diseases. These medicinal plants have contributed significantly to several disease therapies. Phytochemical investigation on the stem bark of this plant led to the isolation of one new diterpenoid; neoboutomacroin (1) in addition to the four known compounds which included, a phenanthrene; 3,6-dihyroxy-1,7-dimethyl-9-methoxyphenanthrene (2), asterol; 3-O-Acetyloleuritolicacid(3) and two diterpenoids; simplexin (4) and montanin (5). Their chemical structures were established mainly through a combination of spectroscopic techniques. The isolated compounds were evaluated for antiplasmodial activity against the chloroquine-resistant FcB1/Colombia strain of Plasmodium falciparum and some compounds showed good activity against Plasmodium falciparum parasite.