Article

Elephant grass (Penninsetum purpureum Schumach) is a perennial grass of the Poaceae family and it’s native to tropical Africa. It has a thick, bamboo-like stem that grows up to 4-7m, and 2-5cm in diameter. It does best in riverine, valley bottoms, and forests with rich soil. Elephant grass is generally used for forage, for ornamental purposes and for erosion control, and for fencing. However, it is edible and used as food in many African countries. The young shoot from its culm is used especially by the Igbo-speaking people of Southeastern Nigeria as a vegetable in soup. The young shoot is rich in protein, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins and alkaloids. It can be used as a painkiller, laxative, for ear and eye treatments. To further exploit the potential of this all-important crop, this research was aimed at assessing the anti-sickling potential of this important crop that is easily available to all people in Africa. The conventional drug is quite expensive and unaffordable to many poor sufferers in Africa. An alternative means of using the medicinal food crop in managing sickle cell anemia is increasingly sought for. Consequently, this research was carried out to investigate the potential of Pennisetum purpereum in the management of sickle cell disease. Young shoots of P. purpureum were sourced from a reputable local farm. Various concentrations of the ethanol extract, including 1000, 500, and 250µg/ml, were carefully prepared and utilized for the anti-sickling study. The microscopic results showed that P. purpureum has significant anti-sickling potential. A maximum percentage of reverse sickling (87.5%) was observed in the 250µg/ml ethanol extract of P. purpureum at 55 minutes, showing a significant anti-sickling effect compared to the control with 100% of sickled cells. Other concentrations of the plant extract (1000 and 500µg/ml) still showed a significant anti-sickling effect. However, the anti-sickling activity appeared to be dose-dependent, with the lowest concentration (250µg/ml) showing the best result, with the anti-sickling activity increasing over time.