DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2013.v01i03.009

Pages: 191-198

Abstract: The antisickling potentials of four curcubits (T.occidentalis , C. maxima , C. sativus and C . lonatus and their extracts were investigated to ascertain the ability of the extracts of the samples to inhibit sickle cell hemoglobin polymerization and improve the Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio of sickle cell blood. Phytochemical analysis of the samples revealed the presence of flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, tannins and saponins, all present at varying concentrations. The seeds of the sample (T.occidentalis) were first dehulled and dried in an oven at 40 0C, ground into powder and finally soaked in chloroform of analytical grade to defat the sample and in essence to produce the fat-soluble extract (FAS). The defatted residue was dried en vacuo , soaked in 200 ml methanol of analytical grade for 48 hrs to generate the methanol soluble fraction (MSF),which was concentrated by rotor evaporator, set at 45 0C. This was finally fractionated in a mixture of BuOH/H2O (1:1) to give the butanol-soluble (BUS) and the water-soluble (WAS) fractions respectively .The samples of (C.maxima, C. sativus and C. lonatus) of weights 600 g each ,were washed, sliced and blended to homogenous powders .Ten (10 ml) milliliters of 10 % Alum solution were added to each of the later extracts, then refrigerated at 8 0C for 24 hours before filtration to generate the crude aqueous extracts (CAEs). The fat-soluble (FAS),the butanol-soluble BUS, and the water- soluble( WAS) extracts of T.occidetalis, were able to inhibit HbSS polymerization to varying degrees from 60.42 % for the BUS to 95.00 % for the WAS of T . occidentalis .The hemoglobin polymerization inhibition assay results for the CAEs are as follows: C. lonatus (97.1 %), C. sativum (97.1 %) and C. maxima (94.58 %) respectively. The vitamin C concentrations of the samples ranged from 9.50 mg/100g for the WAS fraction of T. occidentalis to 288.08mg/100 g for C. lonatus . Nutritionally, the ....................