crucial nutrient for survival and replication of
microorganisms such as Plasmodium parasites. Thus, the
ability of an antioxidant to chelate/sequester iron needed by
the Plasmodium parasite will adversely affect the survival of
the parasite in a host. Flavonoids in particular have the ability
to chelate iron and they have been suggested that such
compounds with the ability to sequester iron should be
employed in treatment of infections [16]. Both the aqueous and
D/M extracts contained flavonoids, which possibly contributed
to the antiplasmodial effect observed in the mice.
The aqueous extract also exhibited prophylactic