Fig. 1

Effect of plant extracts on stage-specific P. falciparum (3D7) morphology in vitro. A Percentage of parasites at each stage (i.e., ring, trophozoite, or schizont) after treatment with 10, 25, 50, or 100 μg/ml of extracts of Artemisia judaica, Trichodesma africanum, Cleome droserifolia, or Vachellia toritilis plants, chloroquine, or medium alone. The number of parasites at each stage was determined from a total of 600–900 erythrocytes. Data are representative of two independent experiments with similar results. B P. falciparum parasites were treated with 50 μg/ml of an extract of A. judaica, T. africanum, C. droserifolia, or V. tortilis. Chloroquine (0.025 μg/ml) was used as a positive control, and medium alone was used as a negative control. Three wells were used for each plant or drug concentration. After 72 h, the parasite morphology was observed via microscopy (× 100 magnification) on Giemsa-stained thin blood smears. Line arrow indicate the fragmented parasites, while arrow head indicate the shrinkage parasites. Data shown here are representative of two independent experiments that produced similar results