ABSTRACT Pumpkin (Cucurbita maxima D.) is an angiosperm belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family generally characterized by climbing herbaceous vine with tendrils. The fruits vary in size, colour, shape and weight and have a moderately hard rind, with a thick edible flesh, and numerous seeds in the fruit which are either plump and tan or soft white.Preliminary phytochemical evaluation on different extracts of seed and fruit of C.maxima reveals the presence of proteins, carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, steroids, coumerins, phenolic compounds, terpenoids, and glycosides. A C.maximum contains antioxidants (such as: tocopherols, flavonoids, and phenolic acids, carotenoids or ascorbic acid) which are molecule that are capable of slowing or preventing the oxidation of other molecules. They may protect cells from damage caused by unstable molecules known as free radicals. Antioxidants terminate these chain reactions by removing free radical intermediates, and inhibit other oxidation reactions by being oxidized themselves.Free radical scavenging or antioxidant activity of the extract was determined on the basis of their scavenging activity of the stable 1, 1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical. Antibacterial activity of the crude extract was determined by Cup-cut agar diffusion method.The pulp and seed extracts showed significant antioxidant activity in a dose-dependent manner with good IC50 values. For the pulp IC50(s) were 4.25 ± 0.05, 3.84 ± 1.18 and 4.12 ± 0.32 for petroleum ether, chloroform and Methanol extracts, respectively. In addition the the seed IC50(s) were 9.22 ± 0.20, 14.5 ± 0.14 and 5.97 ± 1.70 for petroleum ether, chloroform and Methanol extracts, respectively. C.maxima extracts contains antioxidants that prevent the oxidative damage to DNA in presence of DNA damaging agent (Sybr Gold) at a high concentration. The percentage of hydroxyl radical scavenging activity of C. maxima determines the ability of antioxidant to scavenge the hydroxyl radicals. The antioxidant activity of C. maxima extracts has high scavenging activity (thermodynamic property) and relatively high reaction rate (kinetic property); therefore, the second order rate constant (ks) of the H-atom transfer from antioxidant to the hydroxyl radical was seen. The seed extract showed antibacterial properties on both Gram- positive and Gram-negative bacteria used in this study. This means that C. maxima are useful as potential antibacterial agents. It was also observed from this study, the variations in the antibacterial activities of the C. maxima may be due to the differences in their bioactive compositions or concentrations. In conclusion, the physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical evaluation of fruit and seeds of C.maxima provide valuable information regarding their identification, authentication and chemical constituents which may be useful for the standardization and preparation of medicinal plants. The constituents of fruit and seeds of C. maxima may have several medicinal properties and can be utilized for the treatment of various diseases. Further research on this species in Libya may help in the isolation of therapeutically potent compounds which can be finally be subjected to pharmacological activities, thus leading to opening up new avenues in the use of natural products for therapeutic purpose.
إيناس عبدالله السعداوي (2016)

Aims: The study is intended to compare the freshly collected henna (Lawsonia inermis L.) and the market henna in term of microscopical key elements and heavy metals contamination. Moreover, this study is aimed to investigate the effect of henna and its oily additives on kidney histology in female mice. Study Design: Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tripoli and Animals House, Biotechnology Research Center in 2010. Methodology: The powders of collected and market henna have been subjected to a microscopical study with magnification of 5x then 40 x to investigate the henna key elements, which are calcium oxalate clusters, anomocytic stomata, starch grains and fibers. Three elements: arsenic (As), mercury (Hg) and lead (Pd) were analyzed by atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAs) for the collected and market henna. For histopathological study, an aqueous extracts of L. inermis leaves and L. inermis leaves-oils were prepared by maceration. Eighteen female Albino Wister mice (3-4-months, 20-25 gm) were injected with the prepared extracts subcutaneously by dose 50 ml/kg/day for 5 days. Kidneys were collected and subjected to histopathological study. Results: From this study, the microscopical investigation exhibited the presence of some elements which are never mentioned as the henna key elements. Both market and collected henna were contaminated with a high level of heavy metals specially lead (Pd). The histopathological findings implied that there are many histological changes on the kidney tissues such as aggregation of round cells and congestion of blood vessels. Conclusion: The market henna might be adulterated with other types of plant. The presence of a high concentration of lead (Pd) in the collected henna as well as the market henna might be considered as the cause of some L. inermis adverse effects. L. inermis leaves and L. inermis leaves-oils aqueous extracts implied many abnormalities in the kidney tissues. arabic 17 English 102
Sakina S. Saadawi, Hanin N. Mughrbi, Mukhtar R. Haman, Surur A. Ahmed, Laila A. Ghashout, Elsayed R. Elattar(5-2020)

Chemical constituents and biological activities of the Mitrella kentii leaf oil were investigated in this study. Gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) were used to determine the chemical constituents of the oil. The oil was evaluated for its ability to inhibit prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and thromboxane B2 (TXB2) productions in human whole blood using a radioimmunoassay technique. Its inhibitory effect on platelet-activating factor (PAF) receptor binding with rabbit platelets using 3H-PAF as a ligand and its free radical scavenging effect on DPPH were also investigated. Caryophyllene oxide (33.8%w/w), E,Z-farnesol (6.9%), benzyl benzoate (6.5%w/w) and viridiflorol (6.5%w/w) were among the major components of the oil. Even though weak inhibitory activities were observed in both PGE2 and TXB2 assays, significant results were obtained in both PAF receptor binding inhibition and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging effect with IC50 value of 6.6 μg/mL and 155.6 μg/mL respectively. These promising activities warrant the development of the oil as an anti-inflammatory agent. arabic 14 English 74
Sakina Salem Mohammed Saadawi, JURIYATI JALIL, IBRAHIM JANTAN, MALINA JASAMAI(1-2021)