PhD Ababacar Ibrahim Maïga 2005

The thesis presents the results of studies on medicinal plants from Mali with special focus on certain toxicological aspects as well as antioxidant activities. Both ethnopharmacological and chemical studies have been combined in the thesis. The survey includes the use of toxic plants by the healers and how they dealt with the toxic effects that they knew of. Edible and medicinal fruits and plants were investigated for their content of toxic and essential metal ions, while other medicinal plants were investigated for their ability to have antioxidant properties and inhibit 15-lipoxygenase. One of the plants with the highest antioxidative effect, Lannea velutina, was investigated further for identification of the compounds with this effect and was shown to be proantocyanidins. These compounds were also shown to have a protective effect against glutamate induced cell death.