Vigorous research has been conducted into the phenology of the shea tree, its usage and that of the shea butter extracted from the nuts of the shea fruit. Shea butter is the most valuable product in the Shea tree and its use as raw or in cosmetic and pharmaceutical products was expanded in the last years. The aim was to carry out comparative study between imported South African raw Shea Butter, one sample from Poland and samples from Libyan market on their physical properties (organoleptic), thin layer chromatography (TLC) chromatogram, phytochemical screening and diphenylpicrylhydrazil (DPPH) scavenging activity. As well as antimicrobial screening. Organoleptic test was carried out by comparing color and odor. TLC chromatogram was performed by spotting solution of samples in hexane on TLC plate and eluted twice in hexane: ethylacetate 8:2 to get good separation. Phytochemical screening was performed to determine the presence of carbohydrates (Fehling test), steroids, and triterpens (Salkwiski test). DPPH assay was carried out by spraying TLC sample spots by 0.2% DPPH methanolic solution. Antimicrobial test was conducted on Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus. Mueller-Hinton agar was used with ciprofolxacin as +ve control and DMSO as–ve control. As a result, Shea Butter samples showed wide diversity in color and odor which considered normal except two white samples that might undergo refining process, while spreadability and TLC chromatograms were similar. Samples and control showed presence of carbohydrates, steroids and triterpens. Control and samples had DPPH scavenging activity. Shea Butter control and samples had no antimicrobial activities against P. aeruginosa and S. aureus. arabic 17 English 111
Sakina Salem Saadawi, Khairi Ali Alennabi, Hanin Nafed Mughrbi, Kholoud Lotfi, Nesrin Saleh Ali Abdulnabi(4-2020)

More than 2000 cultivars of Phoenix dactylifera L. are known to grow around the world. Date is an essential fruit in North Africa, and in Libya in particular, it represents an important national food resource. Recently, researchers discovered the medicinal value of different parts of palm tree beside the well known nutritional value of the fruit edible part. In this study five Libyan date seeds (Bestian, Deglet, Abel, Khadrai and Hamrai) were collected from Aljofra region and were screened for phytochemical components and their antimicrobial activity. The phytochemical analysis of methanolic extract of five different Libyan date palm seeds showed the presence of aflavnoids, glycosides, phytosterols, phenolic compound, tannins, and fixed oil, absences of alkaloids and saponine. The susceptibility of bacterial species to five methanolic extracts of Phoenix dactylifera L seeds by cup-cut agar method exhibited Inhibition zones (IZD). That inhibition zone diameters are vary from 15.0 0.3 to 3.02 0.01 against MRSA; 16.040.1 to 6.0  0.7 against Pseudomonas aeruginosa; 14.2 0.1 to 6.00.7 against Proteus vulgaris; 18.3 0.2 to 6.0 0.1 against Staphylococcus aureus; 14.04 0.2 to 2.0 0.02 against E. coli; and 18.0 0.1 to3.2 0.02 against Klebsiella pneumonia. The results of current study shows the antibacterial properties of five Libyan samples of date seed extract against a wide spectrum of bacteria. arabic 21 English 126
Basma Doro, Nahla Labyad, Fadia Gafri(1-2020)

Acetylmelodorinol, chrysin and polycarpol, together with benzoic acid, benzoquinone and stigmasterol were isolated from the leaves of Mitrella kentii (Bl.) Miq. The compounds were evaluated for their ability to inhibit prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and thromboxane B2 (TXB2) production in human whole blood using a radioimmunoassay technique. Their inhibitory effect on platelet activating factor (PAF) receptor binding to rabbit platelet was determined using 3H-PAF as a ligand. Among the compounds tested, chrysin showed a strong dose-dependent inhibitory activity on PGE2 production (IC50 value of 25.5 μM), which might be due to direct inhibition of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) enzymatic activity. Polycarpol, acetylmelodorinol and stigmasterol exhibited significant and concentration-dependent inhibitory effects on TXB2 production with IC50 values of 15.6, 19.1 and 19.4 μM, respectively, suggesting that they strongly inhibited COX-1 activity. Polycarpol and acetylmelodorinol showed strong dose-dependent inhibitory effects on PAF receptor binding with IC50 values of 24.3 and 24.5 μM, respectively. arabic 23 English 159
Sakina Salem Mohammed Saadawi, Juriyati Jalil, Malina Jasamai, Ibrahim Jantan(4-2012)