Publications

The mesocarp of fruits of Balanites aegyptiaca was analyzed for its biochemical constituents with estimation of differentfractions of carbohydrates present in the fruit mesocarp. The fruits mesocarp was then administered orally to rats toassess blood parameters in CCl4 liver damaged rats. White albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) assigned to four (4) groupscontaining fifteen (15) rats each were used to assess the effect of the aqueous extract of the mesocarp of the fruitBalanites aegyptiaca on the CCl4 induced rats. Group 1 are the normal control (Nc) and group 2 are the diseased control(Dc), while groups 3 and 4 are the test groups of animals administered orally with 0.08mg of raw (Tr) extract and 0.19mgof concentrated (Tc) extracts per kg body weight respectively on daily basis. The result of the proximate compositionrevealed that the fruit mesocarp has 36.42% carbohydrates with 50.89% of it as reducing sugar. Compared to thecontrols, blood cells of the test rats revealed that there is significant increase (p<0.05) in the level of PCV, RBC,haemoglobin, MCH, MCHC and neutrophils count of the Balanites aegyptiaca treated rats. This indicates that in adiseased state, this fruits contains nutrients which can assist to restore and maintain biological functions of the body, ifregularly consumed.