Asia Life Sciences

Spearmint or mint, Mentha spicata a perennial plant of the family Lamiaceae (or Labiaceae, Labiatae), of the genus Mentha, cultivated as an aromatic plant, is a species widely used in traditional medicine for its biological properties attributed mainly to polyphenols. In the context of the valorization of medicinal and aromatic plants of Morocco, during this study, we focused on the phenolic compounds identification, antioxidant activity (in vitro) and acute oral toxicity in wistar rat of the Moroccan Mentha spicata plant collected in the Casablanca region- Settat (benslimane province). The results of the antioxidant activity assay showed that the polyphenol assay shows that the methanolic extract is better than the aqueous extract with respectively 2.14 ± 0.34 GAE/g DW and 0.682 ± 0.07 GAE/g DW. Even for the flavonoids with respectively 2.81 ± 0.38 QE/g DW and 0.79 ± 0.02 QE/g DW, but for tannins the results show that the aqueous extract is better than the methanolic extract with 156.96 ± 69.52 CE/g DW and 95.7 ± 86.26 CE /g DW respectively. It is also concluded that the methanolic extract has a higher activity antioxidant than the aqueous extract with EC50 values of 0.173 ± 0.013 mg/ml and 0.191 ± 0.07 mg/ml, respectively. Regarding the acute oral toxicity in wistar rat, the values revealed that there was a similar range of Lethal dose 50 (LD50) dose values for the two extracts of the plant Mentha spicata, from 5000 to 7500 mg/kg of the body weight of the rats. The determination of the (LD50) of ethanol extracts of Plant of Mentha spicata, showed that from the dose 5000 mg/kg, hypo activity was observed in rats, while for the aqueous extract it is from 10,000 mg/kg that hypo activity appeared. General signs of toxicity due to large doses of this plants extract, which is significant compared to the other parts

Diabetes mellitus is one of the major health problems in the world, its incidence with mortality is increasing. Conventional antidiabetic drugs are effective but their unavoidable side effects and cost impose an alternative source of antidiabetic agents presented in medicinal plants. The aim of this study is to identify and confirm if the hypoglycaemic plants are used in traditional management of diabetes in the North of Morocco (province of Tetouan). Collection data were carried out in the provincial hospital center of Tetouan. In Total, 235 diabetic patients were randomly selected and interviewed about the use of hypoglycaemic plants in traditional management of diabetes. The analysis of questionnaire showed that the frequency of the use of hypoglycemic plants is 28.89% where ten plants were assessed in the management of diabetes. Other outcome also provides that woman belonging from rural areas are more consumers of these plants in management of their diabetes. The value of hypoglycaemic plants represents an efficient traditional natural supply in the management of diabetes in developing countries as Morocco. The therapeutic potential of these plants requires more investigation and more experimentation. This traditional heritage will have an added value if the Moroccan healthcare system formalise the use of medicinal plants according to WHO traditional medicine strategy 2014-2023