EVALUATION DE LACTIVITE BIOLOGIQUE DES EXTRAITS TOTAUX DE PHYSALIS PERUVIANA (SOLANACEA)SUR LES SOUCHES DE PLASMODIUM FALCIPARUM

The Malaria is endemic in sub-Saharan Africa. Treatment is hampered by resistance to antimalarial drugs. This situation has led to an interest in readily available therapeutic alternatives, notably medicinal plants. The aim of this study was to determine the antiplasmodial activity of the plant Physalis peruviana (Solanaceae), as described in previous studies, and to compare its antimalarial effects with those of the modern antimalarial drugs L-artem forte and Quinine, as well as their efficacy in a conventional antimalarial test. The methodology was based on two experiments, the first of which involved mixing 4ml of heavily malarial blood with a dose of 4ml of total plant extracts, 4ml of each type of drug, then incubating for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The second consisted in reducing the dose to a quarter, i.e. 1ml respectively for the aqueous and ethanolic extracts and the modern drugs: L-artem forte and Quinine then mixing and incubating for 24, 48 and 72 hours. The results showed that in the first experiment, there were very significant decreases in parasite load of 97.54% and 95.6% respectively in the test tubes containing the aqueous and ethanolic extracts, and of 100% forthe quinine and L-artem forte compared with the initial parasite density. In the second experiment, the results were identical to those obtained in the first.Hence, we were able to affirm that the aqueous and ethanolic extracts have an effective activity on P. falciparum parasites comparable to that of modern drugs, namely L.artem and quinine. In view of the above, it is necessary to protect the ecosystems of South Kivu, which abound in the Physalis peruviana plant, a plant that is both edible (its fruit) and medicinal, in order to guarantee its availability for making extracts, which are a solution for the poor populations of Bushi and elsewhere, who turn to them to treat malaria at the same time a means of enhancing the value of traditional medicine, which is less costly.