Investigations of various extracts of Morinda lucida for antimalarial actions on Plasmodium berghei berghei in mice.

Morinda lucida extracts, the stem bark, the root bark and the leaves were screened for antimalarial activity in a "4-day schizontocidal test' against a chloroquine-sensitive strain of P. berghei berghei in mice. Each extract was administered as a single daily dose on days 0, 1, 2 and 3 to mice that had received an intraperitoneal inoculum of 1 X 10(7) infected erythrocytes. Each extract produced a degree of suppression of parasitaemia. The most promising result was obtained with chromatographic fractions of the stem bark extracts, the highest dose producing 96.4% suppression of parasitaemia.