There is a huge gap between food production and the exploding population demands in various parts of the world, especially developing countries. This increases the chances of malnutrition, leading to increased disease incidence and the need for functional foods to reduce mortality. Pleurotus ostreatus are edible mushrooms that are cheaply sourced and rich in nutrient with the potential to be harnessed toward addressing the present and future food crisis while serving as functional foods for disease prevention and treatment. This study evaluated the nutritional, proximate, vitamins and amino acids contents of Pleurotus ostreatus. The proximate composition of Pleurotus ostreatus in this study revealed that it contains 43.42% carbohydrate, 23.63% crude fiber, 17.06% crude protein, 8.22% ash, 1.21% lipid and a moisture content of 91.01 and 6.46% for fresh and dry samples of Pleurotus ostreatus, respectively. The monosaccharide and disaccharide profile of Pleurotus ostreatus revealed the presence of glucose (55.08 g/100 g), xylose (7.19 g/100 g), fructose (19.70 g/100 g), galactose (17.47 g/100 g), trehalose (7.37 g/100 g), chitobiose (11.79 g/100 g), maltose (29.21 g/100 g), sucrose (51.60 g/100 g) and lower amounts of cellobiose (0.01 g/100 g), erythrose (0.48 g/100 g) and other unidentified sugars. Potassium, Iron and Magnesium were the highest minerals present with 12.25 mg, 9.66 mg and 7.00 mg amounts, respectively. The vitamin profile revealed the presence of vitamin A (2.93 IU/100 g), C (16.46 mg/100 g), E (21.50 mg/100 g) and B vitamins with vitamin B2 having the highest concentration of 92.97 mg/kg. The amino acid scores showed that Pleurotus ostreatus had more non-essential amino acids (564.17 mg/100 g) than essential amino acids (67.83 mg/100 g) with a ratio of 0.11. Lysine (23.18 mg/100 g) was the highest essential amino acid while aspartic acid (492.12 mg/kg) was the highest non-essential amino acid present in Pleurotus ostreatus. It had a higher concentration of acidic amino acids, 492.12 mg/100 g (77.87%), followed by neutral amino acids, 106.66 mg/100 g (16.88%) and least were the basic amino acids, 23.18 mg/100 g (3.67%). Based on the nutritional assessment of the Pleurotus ostreatus analyzed in this study, it can be concluded that it can serve as an important functional food source that can be exploited to meet the increasing food demands and reduce micronutrient deficiencies in many parts of the world, especially developing countries.

Reactive oxygen species reacts with numerous molecules in the body system causing oxidative damage, which requires antioxidants to ameliorate. Pleurotus ostreatus, a highly nutritious edible mushroom, has been reported to be rich in bioactive compounds. This study evaluated the comparative antioxidant activity and phytochemical contents of five extracts of P. ostreatus: aqueous (AE), chloroform (CE), ethanol (EE), methanol (ME) and n-hexane (HE). The phytochemical composition and antioxidant activity of the extracts were determined using standard in-vitro antioxidant assay methods. Results showed that the extracts contained alkaloids, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolics, cardiac glycosides, carbohydrates, anthrocyanins, and betacyanins in varied amounts. CE had the highest flavonoid content (104.83 ± 29.46 mg/100 g); AE gave the highest phenol content of 24.14 ± 0.02 mg/100 g; tannin was highest in EE (25.12 ± 0.06 mg/100 g); HE had highest amounts of alkaloids (187.60 ± 0.28 mg/100 g) and saponins (0.16 ± 0.00 mg/100 g). Antioxidant analyses revealed that CE had the best hydroxyl radical activity of 250% at 100 µg/ml and ferric cyanide reducing power of 8495 µg/ml; ME gave the maximum DPPH activity (87.67%) and hydrogen peroxide scavenging activity (65.58%) at 500 µg/ml; EE had the highest nitric oxide radical inhibition of 65.81% at 500 µg/ml and ascorbate peroxidase activity of 1.60 (iU/l). AE had the best total antioxidant capacity (5.27 µg/ml GAE at 500 µg/ml) and ferrous iron chelating activity (99.23% at 100 µg/ml) while HE gave the highest guaiacol peroxidase activity of 0.20(iU/l). The comparative phytochemical and antioxidant characteristics (IC₅₀) of the extracts followed the order: CE > AE > EE > ME > HE. Overall, chloroform was the best extraction solvent for P. ostreatus. The high content of phenolic compounds, flavonoids, and alkaloids in P. ostreatus makes it a rich source of antioxidants and potential candidate for the development of new therapies for a variety of oxidative stress-related disorders.

Rising prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in sub-Saharan Africa has necessitated surveys of antidiabetic medicinal plants. This study assessed the antidiabetic mechanism of Terminalia catappa aqueous leaf extract (TCA) in high fat/low dose streptozotocin-induced type 2 diabetic rats. T2DM was induced by a combination of high-fat diet and low dose STZ (30 mg/kg bw) and the animals were administered with TCA (400 and 800 mg/kg bw) orally daily for 28 days. Biochemical parameters and indices for diabetes including renal function tests and pancreatic histology were evaluated. Relative expression of hepatic insulin resistance, signalling and glucose transport genes were also assessed. Induction of T2DM resulted in significant (p < 0.05) weight loss, dysregulated glucose level and clearance, electrolyte imbalance and disrupted diabetic biochemical parameters. Diabetes onset also perturbed β-cell function and insulin resistance indices, damaged pancreas microanatomy, while disrupting the expression of insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS-1), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), protein kinase B (AKT) and glucose transporter isoform 4 (GLUT-4) mRNA. Oral treatment of diabetic animals with TCA significantly (p < 0.05) ameliorated alterations due to T2DM induction in a manner comparable with glibenclamide. These results suggest TCA exerts its antidiabetic action by reversing insulin resistance, improving glucose transport and activating PI3K/AKT signalling.

Background: Anthropometric measures have been widely used for body weight classification in humans. Waist circumference has been advanced as a useful parameter for measuring adiposity. This study evaluated the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference and examined their significance as indicators of health status in adults. Design and Methods: The subject included 489 healthy adults from Ota, Nigeria, aged between 20 and 75 years, grouped into early adulthood (20-39 years), middle adulthood (40-59 years) and advanced adulthood (60 years and above). Weight, height and abdominal circumference were measured. BMI was calculated as weight kg/height² (m²) and World Health Organization cut-offs were used to categorize them into normal, underweight, overweight and obese. Results: Abnormal weight categories accounted for 60 % of the subjects (underweight 11 %, overweight 31%, and obese 18%). The waist circumference of overweight and obese categories were significantly (P<0.05) higher than the normal weight category. There was no significant difference between waist circumference of underweight and normal subjects. The correlation coefficient values of BMI with waist circumference (r=0.63), body weight (r=0.76) and height (r=-0.31) were significant (P<0.01) for the total subjects. Conclusions: The study indicates that waist circumference can serve as a positive indicator of overweight and obesity in the selected communities; however, it may not be used to determine underweight in adults. Regular BMI and waist circumference screening is recommended as an easy and effective means of assessing body weight and in the prevention of weight related diseases in adults.

Terminalia catappa leaves are used in managing both diabetes mellitus and its complications in Southwest Nigeria. However, its inhibitory activity on enzymes implicated in diabetes is not very clear. This study investigated the in vitro inhibitory properties and mode of inhibition of T. catappa leaf extracts on enzymes associated with diabetes. The study also identified some bioactive compounds as well as their molecular interaction in the binding pocket of these enzymes. Standard enzyme inhibition and kinetics assays were performed to determine the inhibitory effects of aqueous extract (TCA) and ethanol extract (TCE) of T. catappa leaves on α-glucosidase and α-amylase activities. The phytoconstituents of TCA and TCE were determined using GC-MS. Molecular docking of the phytocompounds was performed using Autodock Vina. TCA and TCE were the most potent inhibitors of α-glucosidase (IC₅₀ = 3.28 ± 0.47 mg/mL) and α-amylase (IC₅₀ = 0.24 ± 0.08 mg/mL), respectively. Both extracts displayed a mixed mode of inhibition on α-amylase activity, while mixed and noncompetitive modes of inhibition were demonstrated by TCA and TCE, respectively, on α-glucosidase activity. The GC-MS analytic chromatogram revealed the presence of 24 and 22 compounds in TCE and TCA, respectively, which were identified mainly as phenolic compounds, terpenes/terpenoids, fatty acids, and other phytochemicals. The selected compounds exhibited favourable interactions with the enzymes compared with acarbose. Overall, the inhibitory effect of T. catappa on α-amylase and α-glucosidase may be ascribed to the synergistic action of its rich phenolic and terpene composition giving credence to the hypoglycaemic nature of T. catappa leaves.