DOCSLIB.ORG

Vernacular Dominance in Folk Taxonomy

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Vernacular Dominance in Folk Taxonomy Otieno et al. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2015, 11:10 http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/11/1/10 JOURNAL OF ETHNOBIOLOGY AND ETHNOMEDICINE RESEARCH Open Access Vernacular dominance in folk taxonomy: a case study of ethnospecies in medicinal plant trade in Tanzania Joseph Otieno1, Siri Abihudi1, Sarina Veldman2, Michael Nahashon2, Tinde van Andel3 and Hugo J de Boer2,3,4* Abstract Background: Medicinal plants are traded as products with vernacular names, but these folk taxonomies do not always correspond one-to-one with scientific plant names. These local species entities can be defined as ethnospecies and can match, under-differentiate or over-differentiate as compared to scientific species. Identification of plant species in trade is further complicated by the processed state of the product, substitution and adulteration. In countries like Tanzania, an additional dimension to mapping folk taxonomies on scientific names is added by the multitude of ethnicities and languages of the plant collectors, traders and consumers. This study aims to elucidate the relations between the most common vernacular names and the ethnicity of the individual traders among the medicinal plant markets in Dar es Salaam and Tanga regions in Tanzania, with the aim of understanding the dynamics of vernacular names in plant trade. Methods: A total of 90 respondents were interviewed in local markets using semi-structured interviews. The ethnicity of each respondent was recorded, as well as the language of each ethnospecies mentioned during the interviews. Voucher collections and reference literature were used to match ethnospecies across languages. Results: At each market, the language of the majority of the vendors dominates the names for medicinal products. The dominant vendors often represent the major ethnic groups of that region. Independent of their ethnicity, vendors offer their products in the dominant language of the specific region without apparently leading to any confusion or species mismatching. Conclusions: Middlemen, traders and vendors adapt their folk classifications to those of the ethnic groups of the region where they conduct their trade, and to the ethnicity of their main customers. The names in the language of the traders are not forgotten, but relegated in favor of the more salient names of the dominant tribe. Keywords: Vernacular names, Medicinal plants, Wildlife trade, Tanzania, Sub-Saharan Africa, Traditional medicine, Folk taxonomy Background a thriving trade in both rural and urban areas [4-8]. An In Africa, traditional healers and remedies made from estimated 5400 plant species are used in traditional plants play an important role in healthcare for millions medicine in Africa [9]. Estimates of the number of spe- of people [1,2]. The often-quoted World Health Organ- cies used in Tanzania vary from 405 [10] to 1100 [11], ization estimate that up to 80% of population depends on although many authors agree that too little is currently traditional medicine for their primary healthcare [3], is known [6,12]. particularly apt for Tanzania where traditional medicine is Studying medicinal plants traded in markets has been used to quantify the commercialization and utilization of * Correspondence: [email protected] natural products, as these mirror a region’s culture, and 2Department of Organismal Biology, Evolutionary Biology Centre, Uppsala can give a rapid insight into traditions, salient health University, Norbyvägen 18D, SE-75236 Uppsala, Sweden 3Naturalis Biodiversity Center, Darwinweg 4, Postbus 9517, 2300 RA Leiden, problems and the importance of herbal medicine in local The Netherlands health care [13-21]. In addition, surveys of traded medicinal Full list of author information is available at the end of the article © 2015 Otieno et al.; licensee BioMed Central. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated. Otieno et al. Journal of Ethnobiology and Ethnomedicine 2015, 11:10 Page 2 of 7 http://www.ethnobiomed.com/content/11/1/10 products can reveal the diversity and prevalence of these ethnospecies and scientific names of products in trade items [14,15] and can help to estimate the total traded are substitution and adulteration. Adulteration is the species richness [16,17,20,21]. Nevertheless, some parts intentional replacement of the intended species for of the local pharmacopeia may be overlooked, and it another, while substitution is more broadly defined and has been asserted that species entering commercial can include slow general substitution of one species for trade represent a ‘short-list’ of a far greater diversity of another due to overharvesting and depletion of the species used for subsistence in rural areas [13]. original species [18,30]. Substitution and adulteration are The rich floral biodiversity of Tanzania with over not only challenging for scholars of folk taxonomies, but 11,000 species [22], the estimated number of 5400 can also be confusing for traders [19] and customers [30]. species used in traditional medicine in Africa [9], and In Tanzania, as elsewhere in Africa, an additional dimen- species diversity in markets in South Africa [14], Benin sion to mapping folk taxonomies on scientific names is [20], Gabon [23], Ghana [21] and Morocco [18] suggest added by the multitude of ethnicities and languages of the that between 200–800 species could be traded in plant collectors, traders and consumers [34,35]. Tanzania. However, published structured quantitative This study aims to elucidate the origins of the ver- research on medicinal plant trade in the markets of nacular names used for the most common ethnospecies Tanzania is so far lacking, and less than 200 plant in the Tanzanian medicinal plant trade. Our null hypoth- species have been documented from trade [12,24-27]. esis was that traders use the vernacular names in their The two main cities trading wild-crafted medicinal own language for the ethnospecies they trade, while our plant products in Tanzania are Dar es Salaam with alternative hypothesis was that traders adjust the names approximately 70 vendors, and Tanga with ca. 50 vendors to those of the dominant group in the area in which they [24,25,28], but the actual numbers are probably signifi- trade. The following research questions are posed: 1) cantly higher. Commercial trade is said to be one of the What are the ethnicities of medicinal plant traders in largest threats to wild medicinal plant populations in Dar es Salaam and Tanga?; 2) What names do the traders Tanzania [24], and vendors in both markets have reported use for the products in their stalls?; 3) What are the most the coastal districts, as well as the Uluguru and Usambara likely scientific names for each of the ethnospecies?; 4) mountains, as the main sources of plant material [24]. Which vernacular name(s) are dominant per ethnospe- The main sources of wild-crafted medicinals coincide with cies?; and 5) What language dominates the medicinal the locations of some of the most threatened biodiversity plant trade and why? hotspots in Africa: the Coastal Forest of Eastern Africa and Eastern Afro-montane hotspots [29]. Methods If Tanzania is to provide a sustainable supply of herbal Study area medicine in the future, it needs to know which species are The study was carried out in Dar es Salaam and Tanga in danger of being overexploited. Knowing the medicinal regions from August 2013 to mid-April 2014. Dar es plant species in trade is a prerequisite for developing a Salaam city and Tanga town are the main hubs of the system of controlled sustainable exploitation. Priority medicinal plant trade in Tanzania [7,25,28]. Plant mate- species for conservation would be those that are wild- rials are supplied to here from the surrounding regions harvested in large quantities from vulnerable habitats of Arusha, Iringa, Lindi, Manyara, Morogoro, and Pwani. and reported to be increasingly difficult to obtain. Iden- These regions include two biodiversity hotspots that are tification of medicinal plants in trade is complicated, as recognized internationally for their high species diversity most material is traded in dried, shredded or powdered and endemicity—the Coastal Forests of East Africa and form [7,25,30]. the Eastern Afromontane Forests [29], which are import- Medicinal plants are traded as products with local ant sources of commercially-traded medicinal plants [7]. names in folk taxonomies [31]. These local species entities These coastal trade cities are melting pots of ethnicity, can be defined as ethnospecies and can match, under- culture and religion [7,36]. differentiate or over-differentiate as compared to scientific species. Under-differentiation in ethnospecies is the case Market survey when names are being applied to entire genera or unre- The survey focused on the main areas of medicinal plant lated species [13,31], while over-differentiating happens trade of Dar es Salaam city and Tanga town, these beyond the scientific species level to distinguish intraspe- included Kariakoo market in Dar es Salaam and various cific morphological or pharmacological characters, such as streets in Tanga town. In these areas traders
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Mothers, Markets and Medicine Hanna Lindh
    Mothers, markets and medicine The role of traditional herbal medicine in primary women and child health care in the Dar es Salaam region, Tanzania Hanna Lindh Degree project in biology, Bachelor of science, 2015 Examensarbete i biologi 15 hp till kandidatexamen, 2015 Biology Education Centre, Uppsala University Supervisors: Sarina Veldman and Hugo de Boer 1 Abstract Traditional medicine is still the most common primary healthcare used in Tanzania, especially among women. The ethnobotanical studies performed in Tanzania have not explored women’s traditional medicine, with the result that we do not know that much about it, including if women’s usage of medicinal plants create a threat against the medicinal flora’s biodiversity or not. Field studies consisting of interviews and collections of medicinal plants were carried out in the Dar es Salaam region in Tanzania before identifying the collected specimens by DNA barcoding, literature and morphology in Uppsala, Sweden. The 33 informants belonged to 15 different ethnic groups and 79% of them had migrated to Dar es Salaam. A total of 249 plant species were mentioned for women’s healthcare and 140 for children’s healthcare. The medicinal plants frequently reported as used for women’s health and childcare during structured interviews and free-listing exercises were Senna occidentalis/ Cassia abbreviata, Zanthoxylum sp., Clausena anisata, Acalypha ornata and Ximenia sp. The most salient uses of medicinal plants by women were during pregnancy, childbirth, menstruation, to induce abortion, and for cleansing infants and treating convulsions in children. Most of the fresh specimens were collected from disturbance vegetation. The informants having most interview answers in common were the market vendors, healers and herbalists and they were the only informants that mentioned species listed as vulnerable on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.
    [Show full text]
  • Zanha Africana, a New Distribution Record for Namibia
    Bothalia 43,1 (2013) 89 SAPINDACEAE ZANHA AFRICANA, A NEW DISTRIBUTION RECORD FOR NAMIBIA Zanha africana (Radlk.) Exell is a tropical African savanna tree with a distribution that extends from Kenya southwards through Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe and southern Angola (Exell 1966; Beentje 1994) to Botswana (Archer 2003). In the Flora of southern Africa [FSA] region, Z. africana has hitherto only been recorded and mapped for the far northeastern corner of Botswana (Archer 2003; Van Wyk et al. 2011), though not taken up in Setshogo & Venter (2003). In November 2009, the author undertook an expedi- tion to the botanically poorly explored mountainous area on the southern side of the Kunene River in the Kaoko- veld of northwestern Namibia. The focus was a sur- vey of the species of Euphorbia between Ruacana and Swartbooisdrif. Near Okauapehuri, about 15 km to the south of the Kunene River, a strange tree with paripin- nate leaves and velvety orange fruit was noted. Mate- rial was collected and subsequently positively identi- fi ed as Zanha africana (Figures 1A, B; 2). The mature leaves (at least principal veins below, or rachis towards the base) and fruit are hairy to velvety in Z. africana, but FIGURE 2.—Known distribution of Zanha africana in Namibia. hairless in Z. golungensis Hiern, the only other member of the genus in southern Africa (Exell 1966; Coates Pal- grave 2002). The Okauapehuri plants were bearing fruit in November, which corresponds to the season (Novem- ber to January) given for Z. africana in Zimbabwe (Coates Palgrave 2002). Despite a thorough survey of the area, only two plants were found.
    [Show full text]
  • Adeyemi Et Al., 2012)
    Ife Journal of Science vol. 15, no. 2 (2013) 303 A REVIEW OF THE TAXONOMY OF AFRICAN SAPINDACEAE BASED ON QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE CHARACTERS *Adeyemi, T.O., Ogundipe, O.T. and Olowokudejo, J.D. Department of Botany, University of Lagos, Akoka, Lagos, Nigeria. e-mail addresses: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] *Corresponding author: [email protected], +2348029180930 (Received: April, 2013; Accepted: June, 2013) ABSTRACT This study was conducted using qualitative and quantitative morphology to characterise and group different representative species of the family Sapindaceae in Africa. The morphological characters used included leaf, stem and fruit. Essentially, the similarities among various taxa in the family were estimated. A total of 28 genera and 106 species were assessed. Members possess compound leaves (paripinnate, imparipinnate or trifoliolate); flowers are in clusters, fruits occur as berry, drupe or capsule and contain seed with white or orange aril. UPGMA dendograms were generated showing relationships amongst taxa studied. The dendograms consists of a single cluster from 0 57 % similarity coefficients suggesting a single line decent of the members of the family. At 65 % two clusters were observed with Majidea fosterii being separated from the cluster. Also, at 67 % similarity coefficient, two clusters were discerned separating the climbing forms from the shrubby forms. Paullinia pinnata was separated from the other climbing forms at 67 % while Allophylus species were separated into two clusters at 91 % similarity coefficient. The dendograms revealed that the family can be separated into eleven (11) clusters based on qualitative morphological data. A key to the identification of genera is presented in this work.
    [Show full text]
  • Botanical Pesticide Production, Trade and Regulatory Mechanisms in Sub-Saharan Africa: Making a Case for Plant-Based Pesticidal Products
    Food Sec. DOI 10.1007/s12571-014-0343-7 ORIGINAL PAPER Botanical pesticide production, trade and regulatory mechanisms in sub-Saharan Africa: making a case for plant-based pesticidal products P. Sola & B. M. Mvumi & J. O. Ogendo & O. Mponda & J. F. Kamanula & S. P. Nyirenda & S. R. Belmain & P. C. Stevenson Received: 4 June 2013 /Accepted: 13 March 2014 # Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht and International Society for Plant Pathology 2014 Abstract Pesticides are the major technology used in the formalising production, marketing and use of pesticidal management of field and postharvest losses due to pests. plants. This has to be supported by friendly registration pro- There is growing demand for effective alternatives that present cedures, sustainable forest management, propagation and cul- low health risks and conserve ecosystems and biological tivation of pesticidal plants. This paper presents a critical diversity. Pesticidal plants are increasingly used as alternatives review of the enabling environment required for wide-scale where synthetic products are unaffordable, have limited avail- adoption and commercialisation of botanical pesticides in sub- ability or are ineffective. Plant materials, however, are often Saharan Africa. We conclude that regulations and protocols used inefficiently and their effective use requires optimisation. for production, marketing and trade need to be reviewed to In Africa wide-scale uptake of pesticidal plants remains lim- facilitate the development of the botanicals sector in Africa. ited despite the success of pyrethrum in some countries and other pesticidal plant products in China and India. This is Keywords Botanical insecticides . Pesticidal plants . mainly due to lack of data on efficacy and safety, inconsistent Pesticide industry .
    [Show full text]
  • Cassia Abbreviata Oliv
    Vol. 7(45), pp. 2901-2906, 8 December, 2013 DOI: 10.5897/AJPP12.1017 African Journal of Pharmacy and ISSN 1996-0816 © 2013 Academic Journals http://www.academicjournals.org/AJPP Pharmacology Review Cassia abbreviata Oliv. A review of its ethnomedicinal uses, toxicology, phytochemistry, possible propagation techniques and Pharmacology Mongalo N. I.1 and Mafoko B. J.2 1Department of Botany, University of Zululand, Private Bag x1001, KwaDlangezwa 3886, Republic of South Africa. 2Department of Biochemistry, University of Venda, Private Bag X 5050, Thohoyandou, 0950, Republic of South Africa. Accepted 18 November, 2013 A variety of ethnotherapeutic properties and pharmacological actions has been attributed to Cassia abbreviata Oliv. which belong to the family Caesalpiniaceae. Reports from the literature have indicated the presence of a variety of compounds including alkaloids. Studies by various groups of investigators revealed that C. abbreviata possess antidiabetic, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity, thus lending pharmacological support to the plant’s folkloric uses in African indigenous medicine. This review is aimed at collating presently available information on pharmacological, toxicological, propagation techniques, phytochemical ingredients and both ethnomedicinal and other uses of C. abbreviata. Key words: Cassia abbreviata Oliv., ethnomedicine, pharmacological properties, toxicity. INTRODUCTION Cassia, a major genus of the family Caesalpiniaceae, (Coates, 2005). C. abbreviata is endangered in the comprises of about 600 species and is well known for its majority of areas and is reported to be in rank 3, score diverse biological and pharmacological properties (Silva 401 and frequency of 33 of the top 10 priority medicinal et al., 2005; Ayo, 2010; Chanda et al., 2012; Singh et al., trees in Shinyama region, Zambia (Dery et al., 1999).
    [Show full text]
  • Master of Pharmacy
    “PHARMACOGNOSTIC, PHYTOCHEMICAL AND INVITRO ANTILICE AND ANTIDANDRUFF ACTIVITIES OF Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight & Arn” Dissertation submitted to The Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai In partial fulfillment of the requirement for the award of Degree of MASTER OF PHARMACY MARCH – 2008 DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACOGNOSY MADURAI MEDICAL COLLEGE MADURAI – 625 020. Mr. K. Periyanayagam, M. Pharm., Professor i/c, Department of Pharmacognosy, Madurai Medical College, Madurai. CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the dissertation entitled “Pharmacognostic, Phytochemical and Invitro Antilice, Antidandruff activities of Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight &Arn” was done by Mrs. M. Vijayalakshmi in Department of Pharmacognosy, Madurai Medical College, Madurai – 20, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Pharmacy in Pharmacognosy, under my guidance and supervision. Station : Mr. K. Periyanayagam Date : Mr. K. Periyanayagam, M. Pharm., Professor i/c, Department of Pharmacognosy, Madurai Medical College, Madurai. CERTIFICATE This is to certify that the dissertation entitled “Pharmacognostic, Phytochemical and Invitro Antilice, Antidandruff activities of Dichrostachys cinerea (L.) Wight &Arn” was done by Mrs. M. Vijayalakshmi in Department of Pharmacognosy, Madurai Medical College, Madurai – 20, in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Pharmacy in Pharmacognosy. This dissertation is forwarded to the Controller of Examination, The Tamilnadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, Chennai. Station : Mr. K. Periyanayagam Date : CONTENTS Chapter Title Page No. I. Introduction 1 II. Review of Literature 13 III. Aim and Objective 32 IV. Pharmacognostic Studies: 38 Section – A : Macroscopy of the Leaves of 38 D.cinerea (L.) W& Arn Section – B : Microscopical study of Leaves of 46 D.cinerea (L.) W& Arn Section – C : Quantitative microscopy and 53 Qualitative schedules of leaf of D.cinerea (L.) W& Arn V.
    [Show full text]
  • With Two New Species of Shrub from the Forests of the Udzungwas, Tanzania & Kaya
    bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.05.14.444227; this version posted May 17, 2021. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under aCC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license. Lukea gen. nov. (Monodoreae-Annonaceae) with two new species of shrub from the forests of the Udzungwas, Tanzania & Kaya Ribe, Kenya. Martin Cheek1, W.R. Quentin Luke2 & George Gosline1. 1Herbarium, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK 2East African Herbarium, National Museums of Kenya, P.O. Box 40658, Nairobi, Kenya. Summary. A new genus, Lukea Gosline & Cheek (Annonaceae), is erected for two new species to science, Lukea quentinii Cheek & Gosline from Kaya Ribe, S.E. Kenya, and Lukea triciae Cheek & Gosline from the Udzungwa Mts, Tanzania. Lukea is characterised by a flattened circular bowl-shaped receptacle-calyx with a corolla of three petals that give the buds and flowers a unique appearance in African Annonaceae. Both species are extremely rare shrubs of small surviving areas of lowland evergreen forest under threat of habitat degradation and destruction and are provisionally assessed as Critically Endangered and Endangered respectively using the IUCN 2012 standard. Both species are illustrated and mapped. Material of the two species had formerly been considered to be possibly Uvariopsis Engl. & Diels, and the genus Lukea is placed in the Uvariopsis clade of the Monodoreae (consisting of the African genera Uvariodendron (Engl. & Diels) R.E.Fries, Uvariopsis, Mischogyne Exell, Dennettia Bak.f., and Monocyclanthus Keay).
    [Show full text]
  • Forest Restoration in Eastern Madagascar: Post-Fire Survival Of
    Forest restoration in Eastern Madagascar: Post-fire survival of select Malagasy tree species A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINESOTA BY Donald Matthew Hill IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE Advisor: Rebecca Montgomery August 2018 Copyright Donald Matthew Hill, August 2018 Acknowledgement: The completion of this research could not have been possible without the participation and assistance of so many people whose names may not all be enumerated. Their contributions are sincerely appreciated and gratefully acknowledged. However, I would like to express my deep appreciation and indebtedness particularly to the following for their scientific input and guidance: Dr. Rebecca Montgomery, University of Minnesota Dr. Lee Frelich, University of Minnesota Dr. Jennifer Powers, University of Minnesota Dr. Leighton Reid, Missouri Botanical Gardens To all my relatives, both American and Malagasy, I would like to thank you for the emotional and moral support you have given me throughout the years. Your encouragement was essential for this endeavor to reach fruition. Thank you! i Abstract: As fire becomes more common in rainforests due to climate change, understanding rainforest tree species’ tolerance to fire becomes increasingly important. Madagascar’s northeast coast is particularly vulnerable to fire given the 20th century invasion of Dicranopteris linearis fern that is extremely flammable, promoting its own dominance in this region. The objective of the study was to investigate which Malagasy tree species were better able to survive a fire disturbance and under what conditions. We planted 4,000 trees of 11 different Malagasy tree species in 160 small monoculture islands consisting of 25 trees each.
    [Show full text]
  • Ethnobotanical Study of Medicinal Flora Utilised by Traditional Healers
    Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia 26 (2016) 268–274 ww w.elsevier.com/locate/bjp Original Article Ethnobotanical study of medicinal flora utilised by traditional healers in the management of sexually transmitted infections in Sesheke District, Western Province, Zambia K.C. Chinsembu Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Namibia, Windhoek, Namibia a b s t r a c t a r t i c l e i n f o Article history: Since many rural-poor Lozi people of Sesheke District (Western Province, Zambia) that suffer from Received 30 January 2015 sexually transmitted infections do not usually access public health facilities; they turn to traditional Accepted 27 July 2015 healers who administer remedies extracted from medicinal plants. However, the medicinal plants used Available online 27 January 2016 for sexually transmitted infections and data on the usage of plants in Sesheke District in particular and Western Province in general have not been documented. In this study, an ethnobotanical survey was con- Keywords: ducted to document the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants that alleviate symptoms of sexually Ethnobotany transmitted infections in Sesheke District, Western Province, Zambia. Using semi-structured interviews Medicinal plants and questionnaires, ethnobotanical data were collected from twenty traditional healers that manage Sexually transmitted infections Sesheke patients presenting with sexually transmitted infections. The results showed that 52 plant species in 25 Zambia families and 43 genera were used to treat gonorrhoea, syphilis, chancroid, chlamydia, genital herpes, and ano-genital warts. Sexually transmitted infections were frequently managed using the following plants: Terminalia sericea, Strychnos cocculoides, Ximenia caffra, Cassia abbreviata, Cassia occidentalis, Combretum hereroense, Combretum imberbe, Dichrostachys cinerea, Boscia albitrunca, Momordica balsamina and Pel- tophorum africanum.
    [Show full text]
  • Effects of Cassia Abbreviata Oliv. and Helinus Integrifolius
    Available online on www.ijppr.com International Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemical Research 2016; 8(6); 1003-1009 ISSN: 0975-4873 Research Article Effects of Cassia abbreviata Oliv. and Helinus integrifolius (Lam.) Kuntze on Glucose Uptake, Glut-4 Expression and Translocation in Muscle (C2C12 Mouse Myoblasts) Cells Seabi I M1, Motaung S C K M1, Ssemakalu C C4, Mokgotho M P2, Mogale A M3, Shai L J1* 1Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Science, Tshwane University of Technology, Private Bag X680, Pretoria 0001, South Africa 2Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Biotechnology, University of Limpopo, Private Bag X1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa 3Department of Biochemistry, Sefako Makgatho University of Allied and Health Sciences, PO Medunsa, 0204, South Africa 4Department of Biotechnology, Vaal University of Technology, Vanderbijlpark, South Africa Available Online: 9th June, 2016 ABSTRACT Background: Herbal remedies have been used to successfully manage diabetes mellitus. However, the underlying mechanisms through which these remedies are able to manage diabetes mellitus are not well understood. Aim of the study: The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of Cassia abbreviata (stem bark) and Helinus integrifolius (leaves) water extracts on glucose absorption and expression of glucose transporters (GLUTs) 1 and 4 by muscle cell lines. Materials o and Methods: Cells were treated with water extracts of both plants, and then incubated at 37 C and 5% CO2 for 3 h and 24 h. Glucose uptake by cells was determined in the presence and absence of extracts of Cassia abbreviata and Helinus integrifolius. GLUT1 and GLUT4 mRNA levels were determined by PCR. GLUT4 translocation was determined using immunofluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry.
    [Show full text]
  • Cassia Abbreviata Fabaceae
    Cassia abbreviata Oliv. Fabaceae - Caesalpinioideae LOCAL NAMES Afrikaans (sambokpeul); Bemba (musambafwa,munsokansoka); English (sjambok pod,long pod cassia); Somali (rabuya,domader); Swahili (mkakatika,mbaraka) BOTANIC DESCRIPTION Cassia abbreviata is a single-stemmed shrub or small tree 2-15 m with a medium round canopy. Bark grey to brown, very rough on older trees. Young branchlets glabrous, pubescent or puberulous. tree (Mark W. Skinner @ USDA-NRCS Leaves with petiole and rachis (5-25 cm long) eglandular. Leaflets in 5-12 PLANTS Database) pairs, petiolulate, ovate-elliptic to oblong-elliptic, sometimes elliptic- lanceolate, 1-7.5 cm long, 0.8-4.5 cm wide, rounded to obtuse or subacute at apex, usually pubescent or puberulous. Flowers fragrant, racemes 0.5-9 cm long. Bracts persistent while flowers are open. Petals yellow, 1.5-3.5 cm long, 0.7-1.8 cm wide. Stamens 10; filaments of 3 each with an S-bend near base and a swelling half-way along their length. Pods cylindrical, 30-90 cm long, 1.5-2.5 cm in diameter, from velvety to glabrous and blackish, transversely but not longitudinally partitioned within. Seeds embedded in pulp, brown-black, 9-12 x 8-9 x 3 mm. Based on petal size, pubescence and geographical distribution three subspecies, namely abbreviata Brenan, beareana (Holmes) Brenan and kassneri (Bak. f.) Brenan are recognized for C. abbreviata. The generic name is from the Greek name 'kassia'. BIOLOGY C. abbreviata is hermaphroditic and subsp. abbreviata hybridizes with Cassia burtii. Sometimes this tree flowers after shedding its leaves. Flowering occurs between July and November and fruit ripening occurs between May and September.
    [Show full text]
  • Accepted Manuscript
    Accepted Manuscript Plastid and nuclear DNA markers reveal intricate relationships at subfamilial and tribal levels in the soapberry family (Sapindaceae) Sven Buerki, Félix Forest, Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez, Martin W. Callmander, Johan A.A. Nylander, Mark Harrington, Isabel Sanmartín, Philippe Küpfer, Nadir Alvarez PII: S1055-7903(09)00017-7 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.01.012 Reference: YMPEV 3130 To appear in: Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution Received Date: 21 May 2008 Revised Date: 27 November 2008 Accepted Date: 23 January 2009 Please cite this article as: Buerki, S., Forest, F., Acevedo-Rodríguez, P., Callmander, M.W., Nylander, J.A.A., Harrington, M., Sanmartín, I., Küpfer, P., Alvarez, N., Plastid and nuclear DNA markers reveal intricate relationships at subfamilial and tribal levels in the soapberry family (Sapindaceae), Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2009), doi: 10.1016/j.ympev.2009.01.012 This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain. ACCEPTED MANUSCRIPT Buerki et al. 1 1 Plastid and nuclear DNA markers reveal intricate relationships at subfamilial and tribal 2 levels in the soapberry family (Sapindaceae) 3 4 Sven Buerki a,*, Félix Forest b, Pedro Acevedo-Rodríguez c, Martin W. Callmander d,e, 5 Johan A.
    [Show full text]