This report validates the anti-hyperlipidemic property of Pleurotus tuber reguim an edible mushroom widely used for weight loss among other ailments, using Triton X-100 induced hyperlipidemic rats. The lipophilic chloroform (CHE) and hydrophilic 70 % aqueous ethanol (AQE) extracts were obtained by successive cold maceration in increasing order of solvent polarity. Anti-hyperlipidemic activities of the extracts at 100 and 200 mg/kg body weight, was evaluated using Triton X-100 induced hyperlipidemic rats. Artovastatin was used as the standard drug. Compared to the hyperlipidemic untreated control group, there was a significant (p<0.05) dose dependent reduction in the plasma total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), very low density lipoprotein (VLDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), and increase in the high density lipoprotein (HDL) after 7 days treatment with the extracts. The trend in the ameliorative activities of the extracts and atovastatin were in the following rank order: atovastatin (43.5%)>CHE-200mg/kgbw (41.4%)>CHE-100mg/kgbw(38.4%>AQE-200 mg/kgbw (35.9%)>AQE-100 mg/kgbw (27.6%) for TC; atovastatin (73.5%)>CHE-200mg/kgbw (68.0%)>CHE-100mg/kgbw(64.5%>AQE-200 mg/kgbw (62.3%)>AQE-100 mg/kgbw (62.2%) for TG; CHE-200mg/kgbw (114.4 %)> AQE-200mg/kgbw(87.3%) >atovastatin (68.7%)>CHE-100mg/kgbw (38.5%)>AQE-100mg/kgbw(8.8%) for HDL; atovastatin (73.5%)>CHE-200mg/kgbw (68.0%)>CHE-100mg/kgbw(64.5%>AQE-200 mg/kgbw (62.3%)>AQE-100 mg/kgbw (62.2%) for VLDL; and CHE-200mg/kgbw (78.5%) > atovastatin (66.8%)>AQE-200mg/kgbw (63.5%)>AQE-100mg/kgbw(26.8%) for LDL. Triterpenoids (phytosteroids), fatty acids, and cardenolides are present in the CHE while, amino acids, saponins and carbohydrate were present in the AQE as metabolites with alkaloids and anthraquinones were absent. P tuber reguim possesses anti-hyperlipidemic effects which could be due to the phyto-constituents present thus justifying its traditional use for weight loss.

An ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants used by the communities in Wombera District, Benishangual Gumuz Regional State, and Western Ethiopia was carried out from 0ctober, 2019 to October, 2020. The purpose of the study was to document information of medicinal plants and indigenous knowledge on use and conservation of medicinal plants by the communities of Wombera District. A purposive sampling was designed and employed for selection of the study areas (6 sampling sites) and 200 informants (52 males and 18 females) aged between 18-85 years were randomly selected from 6 kebeles. Ethnobotanical data were collected using semi-structured questionnaires, interview and, group discussion s. A total of 91 medicinal plants were documented from the study area. Of these 60 were human, 7 veterinary and 24 both human and veterinary medicines. Data were analyzed quantitativelly. The highest number of medicinal plants was collected from wild habitat (64 %), while 33% was collected from home garden, 3% occurred both in wild habitat and home garden. The most plant parts used in treatment of human disease were leaves (34.6%) followed by roots (20.9%). The most frequently mentioned mode of administration was oral (54%) followed by dermal (27.5%) and the least was found to be application through eyes and ears (3%) each. The most common form of medicine preparation was crushing, pounding and homogenizing in water (43.07%) followed by boiling and Fumigating (16%), squeezing(15.45%), chewing(10.7) and the leasts were burning and cooking (5%) each. Deforestation for agriculture, over exploitation, firewood collection, and overgrazing were the main threats of medicinal plants in the study area. The biggest problem of traditional medicinal remedies is the accurate dosage, which sometimes may even kill. Moreover lack of awareness of cultivation in home garden resulted as threats of medicinal patient.

The selection proper raw materials in the production of herbal formulation standardization plays essential role. Sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) is the most exclusively cultivated and India is the second largest producer country next to Brazil. It has been used as a sweetening agent for past era and also chiefly in the form of refined sugar. The present study was focused on preliminary pharmacognostic and phytochemical investigations for determining and establishing the identity, purity and quality of the plants. This will provide with an appropriate guidance for future exploration. The plant was subjected to determination of various physicochemical parameters including ash values (total ash, water soluble ash) and extractive values (alcohol soluble extractive, water soluble extractive). The powdered crude drug was extracted successively with various solvents with increasing polarity and further the extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening for the identification of various phytoconstituents. More over the fingerprint profile of Saccharum officinarum was established using thin layer chromatography (TLC) methods. The results of the TLC profiling of the extract confirm about the presence of various phytochemicals.