J Ethnopharmacol. 1995 Apr; 46(1): 17-23.

Anti-giardial activity of gastrointestinal remedies of the Luo of east Africa.

Johns T, Faubert GM, Kokwaro JO, Mahunnah RL, Kimanani EK.

Centre for Nutrition and the Environment of Indigenous Peoples, McGill University, Ste. Anne de Bellevue, Quebec. Canada.

Activity in an in vitro assay with Giardia lamblia provided a test of the validity of a quantitative methodology used in an ethnobotanical survey of the Luo people of the Lake Victoria basin of Kenya and Tanzania. Forty-five taxa of remedies for gastrointestinal problems were reported by four or more independent informants and a log-linear model was used to calculate a statistical measure of informant consensus. Methanolic extracts of 21 of 36 taxa assayed were lethal or inhibited growth of Giardia trophozoites at 1000 ppm; 7 species were lethal at 500 ppm. Non-cathartic species are more likely to be active than cathartics. Lethal species of non-cathartics are reported by informants more frequently than non-lethal species although the lack of statistical significance did not provide satisfactory support for the validity of the quantitative methodology as a predictor of efficacious remedies.