Papers by Pascaline Jeruto
Nyamwamu Nyarang'o Charles, 2025
Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a major carbohydrate source in the human diet, yet certain ... more Cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is a major carbohydrate source in the human diet, yet certain varieties harbor high cyanogenic glycoside concentrations, posing risks of cyanide toxicity. This study sought to determine cyanide concentration levels in leaves, peels, and pulps of cassava varieties selected from earlier morphological characterization studies carried out in Kenya. A total of 32 varieties were selected for cyanide content analysis using picrate paper and spectrophotometric methods. Similarly, an on-field study was conducted in Migori County, Kenya to assess cyanide concentrations in cassava varieties grown by farmers using picrate paper method. Using the spectrophotometric method, the leaves, peels and pulps had overall average cyanide concentrations of 5.89 mg/L CN-, 7.42 mg/L CN-and 8.20 mg/L CN-respectively. The same trend was realized using the picrate paper analysis where the leaves had average cyanide concentration of 3.13 mg/L CN-, the peels had average 5.44 mg/L CN-and the pulp had the highest average cyanide concentration of 7.97 mg/L CN-. Using the spectrophotometer analysis of the leaves, the variety Nyarkadera exhibited the highest cyanide concentration of 26.93 mg/L CN-, while the lowest was observed in the varieties Nyatanga-002, Nyakanyamkago and Kasukali (0.40 mg/L CN-). Peels of Kazanzwara recorded the highest cyanide concentration of 17.82 mg/L CN-, whereas Kasukali showed the least cyanide concentration of 1.19 mg/L CN-. Results obtained from the pulps showed that the variety Nyatanga had the highest cyanide concentration of 26.93 mg/L CN-while the least cyanide concentration was recorded on the variety Mzungu (0.40 mg/L CN-). Based on the two techniques of analyses, the study established moderate positive correlations (r=0.547 and r=0.570) between cyanide levels in leaves and peels of different cassava varieties respectively. A strong positive correlation of r=0.936 was found in the analysis of pulps indicating high consistency of the two methods. In the field study 15 varieties out of 32 had high cyanide concentrations between 10-30 mg/L CN-while 17 varieties had low cyanide concentration. This showed that farmers still planted high and low cyanide varieties in almost equal proportions. The picrate paper analysis was found appropriate for use effectively in assessing cyanide concentrations in the field. The variability in cyanide levels among the cassava accessions appeared to emphasize need to characterize varieties by cyanogenic potential for breeding programs and consumer guidance.
Dominic et al., (2025), 2025
Despite the critical role of ethnobotanical knowledge in preserving cultural heritage and support... more Despite the critical role of ethnobotanical knowledge in preserving cultural heritage and supporting sustainable practices, most plant species face increasing threats from environmental changes and human activities. Thus, this study sought to carry out ethnobotanical survey of the flora of Kiptogot sub-location, Endebess subcounty, Western Kenya. A household survey was carried out for collection of primary data. Seventy-two households were purposefully selected to take part in this study. Questionnaires were administered to collect data on the cultural uses, threats and conservation status of flora in Kiptogot sublocation, Endebess subcounty, Western Kenya. Both descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential analysis (t-test) were utilized to analyze data gathered. The analyzed data was presented using tables. The findings indicated that there were various ways that the local inhabitants utilized the flora around them. Similarly, it showed that the flora faces various threat and their conservational status was of great concern since most of the (89%) were not conserved. There was a statistical significance (p<005) [Appendix 1] among variables on cultural uses, threats and conservation status of the flora. These findings will be of significance to stakeholders since it will provide insights into the cultural relevance, environmental threats and conservation needs of local flora thereby informing targeted conservation strategies and fostering sustainable use of plant resources in the study area and beyond.
Vegetative propagation studies were carried out at Maseno University, Kenya in the year 2004 and ... more Vegetative propagation studies were carried out at Maseno University, Kenya in the year 2004 and 2005 using stem cuttings on three endangered indigenous tree species namely Asystasia schimperi, carissa edulis and Toddalia asiatica to test the effect of IBA on rooting of the stem cuttings of these plant species. Juvenile stem cuttings of these plant species were dipped in different
Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important cash crop for many small scale farmers in Kenya. The ... more Cassava (Manihot esculenta) is an important cash crop for many small scale farmers in Kenya. The cassava genetic resources in Kenya are often underestimated due to improper characterization of the germplasm available. The objective of this study was to characterize popular cassava landraces and improved varieties grown by small-scale farmers based on their phenotypic traits. The materials were collected from seven major cassava growing counties in Kenya. The survey collected 131 cassava genotypes. These were planted at two experimental sites. Both quantitative and qualitative phenotypic traits data was collected at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months after planting. The data was subjected to Multivariate analysis and dendogram developed at p <0.05. Analyzed phenotypic traits categorized the genotypes into four cluster groups. Cluster 1, 2, 3, and 4 had 72.5%, 16.0%, 3.1% and 8.4% genotypes respectively. Out of the 25 phenotypic characters assessed, a total of 11 principal components (PCs) trait sets accounted for 71.58%cumulative genetic variation at p<0.05.A follow up study on genetic characterization should be done to show the correlation between genetic and phenotypic characterization. Results from this study will assist farmers and breeders to optimize utilization of cassava germplasm for food security.
Production, Utilisation and Indigenous Knowledge of Spider plant among Smallholder Farmers in Nyaribari Chache Sub County, Kisii County, 2024
Spider plant (Cleome gynandra) exists as cultivated or semi-cultivated crop with ecological, soci... more Spider plant (Cleome gynandra) exists as cultivated or semi-cultivated crop with ecological, social and cultural values. It plays a significant role in the nutrition and food security of people in Kenya. This study sought to better establish the production, utilization and indigenous knowledge of spider plant among smallholder farmers in Nyaribari Chache sub county, Kisii County. A household survey was carried out for collection of primary data. Ten administrative sub-locations were randomly sampled for the study. Twenty households were randomly sampled from each sub-location to make a sample size of 200 households. Questionnaires and interviews were administered to collect primary data. Both descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential analysis (t-test) were utilized to analyze data gathered. Spider plant utilization among smallholder farmers was due to factors such being tasty and nutritious, rich in iron, its medicinal has fast growth rate and suitable for recovering patients among others. There was a statistical significance (p<005) among variables on production, utilization and indigenous knowledge of spider plant. These findings will be of significance to stakeholders especially ministry of agriculture and relevant NGOs to formulate policies to govern production of spider plant among small scale farmers in the study area and beyond.
African Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, Apr 29, 2015
Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases in the world. It remains a major public h... more Malaria is one of the most important parasitic diseases in the world. It remains a major public health problem in Africa and is responsible for the annual death of over one million children below the age of five years. The Plasmodium falciparum is the most widespread etiological agent for human malaria and has become increasingly resistant to standard antimalarial drugs. Therefore, this necessitates a continuous effort to search for new drugs, particularly with novel modes of action. The medicinal plants have invariably been a rich source for new drugs and some antimalarial drugs in use today (quinine and artemisinin) were either obtained from plants or developed using their chemical structures as templates. The aim of the study was to screen seven selected medicinal plants from Kenya for antimalarial activity. 21 extracts from seven plants, were selected for in vitro antimalarial screening out of which 10 extracts with good activity in vitro were tested further in a mouse model. In vitro antiplasmodial testing was done by measuring the ability of the test sample to inhibit the incorporation of radio-labelled hypoxanthine into the malaria parasite. In vivo bioassay was done in mice using Peter's 4-days suppressive test. From the results achieved, 10 out of the 21 extracts tested, exhibited antiplasmodial activity, with IC 50 values ranging from 6.93 to 88.4 µg/ml. When tested in vivo, one of the extracts had high activity with chemo suppression of 82.17%, while the rest ranged between 39.93 and 61.86%. The activities observed especially with the methanol extracts indicate that these plants deserve to be investigated further as potential antimalarial agents.
Journal of Applied Sciences, Dec 15, 2011
Contributions of Climatic Smart Agricultural Practises on Adaptation to Climate Change among Small holder farmers in Nyaribari Chache Sub-County, Kisii County
International Journal of Life Science and Agriculture Research
Smallholder farmers are usually susceptible to the effects of climatic variations. Most of these ... more Smallholder farmers are usually susceptible to the effects of climatic variations. Most of these farmers, their agricultural activities are greatly rainfall dependent and compounded by their acute poverty, poor infrastructural and technological advancement. This study sought to assess the contribution of Climate Smart Agricultural strategies on adaptation to climate change among small holder farmers in Nyaribari Chache Sub-County, Kisii County. A household survey was conducted for collection of primary data. Ten administrative sub-locations were randomly sampled for the study. Twenty households were randomly sampled from each sub-location to make a sample size of 200 households. Questionnaires, interviews and focused group discussions were administered to collect data on contributions of Climate Smart Agricultural strategies to adapt to climate change among small holder farmers in Nyaribari Chache Sub-County, Kisii County. Both descriptive and inferential analysis were used to analy...
African journal of traditional, complementary, and alternative medicines : AJTCAM, 2016
Herbal medicines have been in use for many years and remain widespread in developing countries; w... more Herbal medicines have been in use for many years and remain widespread in developing countries; whereas, the use of complementary alternative medicine is on the increase in developed countries. Senna didymobotrya is important for its medicinal benefits among most communities in treating a wide range of ailments. Plants were collected from a cluster in Siaya, Nandi and Nakuru counties (Kenya). Stem bark, root bark, leaves, flowers and immature pods were obtained; air-dried and ground into fine powder. Methanol was used to extract the plant extracts. The extracts were reconstituted in water and incorporated into growth media to obtain 0%, 2.5%, 5%, 7.5% and 10%. Bioassays were carried out on T. tonsurans (ATCC 28942) and C. albicans (14053). The growth of cultures on the plates was measured over a period of sixteen days. The area under disease progress stairs was determined and subjected to ANOVA and comparison of means using LSD. Results indicated that the growth of C. albicans was n...
Journal of Natural Sciences Research, 2016
Prunus africana is a multipurpose medicinal tree of worldwide fame in treatment of benign prostat... more Prunus africana is a multipurpose medicinal tree of worldwide fame in treatment of benign prostate cancer. However, the wild collection is no-longer sustainable due to overharvesting. In order to conserve the species, there is need to determine the status of the local community knowledge on uses and conservation measures to develop protocols for sustainable utilization and avert extinction of the species. Stratified random sampling was used to interview and administer questionnaires to 188 households and herbalists within a buffer zone of 1 km in South Nandi Forest. The study found that 99% of the locals were aware of the P. africana tree. Majority (82%) agreed that P. africana population was decreasing both in the forests and farmlands. Almost all parts of the P. africana were utilized for different purposes. Majority of the locals (66%) acquire P. africana products from the forest. Closer proximity to the forest and uncontrolled harvesting provides easier accessibility to P. afric...
Journal of Advances in Microbiology, 2017
Background: Sida cuneifolia is utilized traditionally to treat many ailments yet as far as we kno... more Background: Sida cuneifolia is utilized traditionally to treat many ailments yet as far as we know its medicinal properties have not been scientifically tested locally in Kenya. The aim of the present study was therefore to investigate the antimicrobial properties of S. cuneifolia against Staphylococcus aureus and investigate the phytochemicals present in the leaves, roots and stem that are of medicinal importance. Method: The plant was separated into root, leaves and stem bark. Water and ethanol were used for extraction of active ingredients. Antimicrobial bioassays and minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests were done on S. aureus. Phytochemicals of medicinal importance were also determined using thin layer chromatography. Results: Ethanol extracts had significantly higher activity than water. Roots showed higher inhibition than leaves and stem. The stem ethanol extracts had an MIC of 10-10 g/ml. Ethanol leaf and root extracts had all the five phytochemicals tested for (alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and terpenoids). Alkaloids were absent in ethanol stem extracts while both alkaloids and flavonoids were absent in the stem and leaf water extracts.
The African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines (AJTCAM), a new broad... more The African Journal of Traditional, Complementary and Alternative Medicines (AJTCAM), a new broad-based journal, is founded on two key tenets: To publish exciting research in all areas of applied medicinal plants, Traditional medicines, Complementary Alternative Medicines, food and agricultural technologies, and promotion of healthy use of medicinal products. Secondly, to provide the most rapid turnaround time possible for reviewing and publishing, and to disseminate the articles freely for teaching and reference purposes. All articles published in AJTCAM are peer-reviewed.
African Journal of Traditional Complementary and Alternative Medicines, 2007
With forest reserves occupying 54,487.4 hectares. The district lies within latitudes 0 0 and 0 0 ... more With forest reserves occupying 54,487.4 hectares. The district lies within latitudes 0 0 and 0 0 34" North and Longitudes 34 0 44" and 35 0 25" East. It occupies an area of 2,873 km 2 with forest reserves occupying 56,019 hectares. South nandi forest covering an area of 1800ha. It has an altitude of 1700-2000m (Kigomo, 1991). It has five administrative divisions. Aldai division occupies 567km 2 and subdivided into twelve locations and 38 sublocations (Kigomo, 1991). Aldai division has the highest population density of 382 people in 567 km 2 in 2001 and the same trend is expected to increase with a population growth rate of 2.9%. These people still perform herbal treatments for curing general disorders. For them, use of herbs is the cheapest way for curing various health disorders. A review of literature reveals that much work has been done on ethnomedicinal plants in Kenya and other parts of the world (
Catastrophe Theory of Stage Transitions in Metrical and Discrete Stochastic Systems
Categorical Variables in Developmental Research, 1996
Journal of Basic Microbiology, 2007
Eighty one isolates of Ralstonia solanacearum-like bacteria on triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TT... more Eighty one isolates of Ralstonia solanacearum-like bacteria on triphenyl tetrazolium chloride (TTC) medium were collected from different Solanaceae crops (i.e. potato, tomato and pepper plants and potato tubers) at various sites in Ethiopia. Of these, 62 strains were identified as R. solanacearum based on their cultural characteristics on TTC medium, tomato pathogenicity bioassay, carbon source utilisation patterns and a specific PCR-based assay. By Hayward's classification method, based on carbon source utilisation, 19 of the 62 R. solanacearum strains were identified as biovar I and 43 strains were identified as biovar II. The biovar I strains exhibited a high growth rate at high temperatures (37 °C). Whereas the growth rate of biovar II strains was greatest at lower temperatures (22 °C). Biovar I strains had broader host range than biovar II strains, which were limited to potato, tomato, and eggplant. To our knowledge, this is the first report of R. solanacearum biovar I in Ethiopia. The existence of biovar I strains in Ethiopia raises concerns because they have a broader host range than biovar II strains.
Letter to Editor-HERBAL TREATMENTS IN ALDAI AND KAPTUMO DIVISIONS IN NANDI DISTRICT, RIFT VALLEY PROVINCE, KENYA
African Journal of …
... 1. Bussmann, RW, Gilbreath, GG, Lutura, M., Lutuluo, R., Kunguru, K., Wood, N., Mathenge, S. ... more ... 1. Bussmann, RW, Gilbreath, GG, Lutura, M., Lutuluo, R., Kunguru, K., Wood, N., Mathenge, S. (2006 ... Pascaline Jeruto a, Catherine Lukhobac, George Ouma a,Dennis Otieno a ,Charles Mutai b* aDepartment of Botany and Horticulture, Maseno University, PO Box 12577, Maseno ...
Journal of Natural Sciences Research, 2016
Prunus africana is a multipurpose medicinal tree of worldwide fame in treatment of benign prostat... more Prunus africana is a multipurpose medicinal tree of worldwide fame in treatment of benign prostate cancer. However, the wild collection is no-longer sustainable due to overharvesting. In order to conserve the species, there is need to determine the status of the local community knowledge on uses and conservation measures to develop protocols for sustainable utilization and avert extinction of the species. Stratified random sampling was used to interview and administer questionnaires to 188 households and herbalists within a buffer zone of 1 km in South Nandi Forest. The study found that 99% of the locals were aware of the P. africana tree. Majority (82%) agreed that P. africana population was decreasing both in the forests and farmlands. Almost all parts of the P. africana were utilized for different purposes. Majority of the locals (66%) acquire P. africana products from the forest. Closer proximity to the forest and uncontrolled harvesting provides easier accessibility to P. afric...
Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies, 2019
Background: Globally, medicinal plants have been used to treat different human ailments from time... more Background: Globally, medicinal plants have been used to treat different human ailments from time immemorial. In Kenya, various plants are used by local people in the treatment of various diseases. This is a common practice in Nandi county due to scarce health facilities in the region, traditional beliefs, cultural barriers and availability of medicinal plants. The objective of this study was to carry out an ethnobotanical survey to identify and document species of the medicinal plants that are used to treat bacterial infections, which are common in the region. Materials and Methods: The survey was conducted during the period of June 2016 to December 2017 through oral interviews and using structured questionnaires. The plant materials cited by the traditional practitioners were collected, and further authenticated in the lab at the department of biological Sciences University of Eldoret, where voucher specimens were deposited at the herbarium. Results: The result showed that thirty-...
Vegetative propagation studies were carried out at Maseno University, Kenya in the year 2004 and ... more Vegetative propagation studies were carried out at Maseno University, Kenya in the year 2004 and 2005 using stem cuttings on three endangered indigenous tree species namely Asystasia schimperi, carissa edulis and Toddalia asiatica to test the effect of IBA on rooting of the stem cuttings of these plant species. Juvenile stem cuttings of these plant species were dipped in different concentrations of auxin (indole Butyric Acid (IBA) of 0, 100 ppm, 200ppm, 400ppm and 500ppm. Completely, randomized design (C.R.D) was used and the treatments replicated three times in a non mist polypropagator. The treated cuttings were planted in polythene pots. The duration of the experiment was four months. Data taken were plant height, number of leaves and number of rooted cuttings every 2 weeks. Data was subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and means separated by L.S.D at 5% significance level. The results showed that hormone concentration, species and date of sampling affected the number of roo...
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Papers by Pascaline Jeruto