Julius B. Lejju’s research while affiliated with Mbarara University of Science and Technology and other places

What is this page?


This page lists works of an author who doesn't have a ResearchGate profile or hasn't added the works to their profile yet. It is automatically generated from public (personal) data to further our legitimate goal of comprehensive and accurate scientific recordkeeping. If you are this author and want this page removed, please let us know.

Publications (8)


Polyphenolic content, antioxidant activity and acute toxicity of Gouania longispicata Engl. leaves
  • Article

June 2025

·

42 Reads

·

1 Citation

Letters in Applied NanoBioScience

·

·

·

[...]

·

Gouania longispicata Engl. (G. longispicata) is one of the understudied medicinal lianas used in Africa for the treatment of more than 40 ailments, including oxidative stress-induced conditions. We herein report for the first time on the total polyphenolic content, antioxidant potential and acute toxicity of G. longispicata aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts. The extracts were assessed for their total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) using Folin-Ciocalteu method and aluminium chloride colorimetric assay, respectively. The antioxidant potential of the extracts were quantified using the DPPH, ferric reducing antioxidant power and hydrogen peroxide scavenging assays while acute toxicity test followed the Lorke method. The highest TPC (75.26±0.420 GAE µg/g DW) and TFC (60.12±0.012 QE µg/g DW) were for the methanolic extract (P<0.05). Antioxidant activity was highest for the aqueous extract, with minimum inhibitory concentration of 187.12±0.08 μg/mL. Our results showed that the median lethal dose of all the extracts was higher than 5000 mg/kg, suggesting that they were not potentially toxic. We recommend further studies should perform phytochemical studies on the leaf extracts of this species to identify the responsible bioactive compounds.


Genealogy and Cultural Heritage of Jackfruit, the Moraceae Giant

December 2024

·

41 Reads

This chapter describes the taxonomy, origin, domestication, genetic diversity, and evolution of jackfruit. The origin and domestication sections trace the crop’s origin beginning with the Moraceae family to the individual species. The chapter further describes the genetic diversity of the crop in terms of molecular and morphological variation as well as its evolutionary divergence from other members of the genus Artocrapus. Jackfruit is an economically important fruit crop with edaphoclimatic adaptations grown in tropical and subtropical regions. The crop belongs to the family Moraceae and genus Artocarpus. Its economic significance stems from the big-sized fruits it produces, which are widely consumed as food though possess other numerous benefits, including medicinal values. Despite the fact that its exact origin is still contentious, Indo-Burma region and Siam-Malaya-Java have been postulated as the likely origins given their position as centers of diversity. From the centers of diversity, jackfruit, is believed to have spread to other areas, and currently, jackfruit thrives well in both tropical and subtropical continents, including Asia, Africa, and the Neotropics. Humans have closely interacted with jackfruit and generated several beliefs around the crop concerning the destruction of its trees, consumption of its dishes, as well as having religious attachments. For instance, the jackfruit plant is a sacred tree at Kaini Hill in Manipur, India. Morphologically, jackfruit has shown wide variability, although most molecular studies have revealed moderate diversity. Despite the long-time relations humans have had with jackfruit, they have hardly altered its genetic constitution. Maintenance of desired jackfruit traits has been through selection and grafting.


The NCLR, with excavated sites (right panel), of Western Uganda; Mt. Stanley is the highest peak of the Rwenzori Mountains that divide the Democratic Republic of Congo from Uganda
Excavated Sites near Kabata Swamp. The red-bordered square on the eastern edge of KA-1 marks the 10 × 10 m inventory area downslope from a hoe-cut embankment. Google Earth image
Site plan for Kabata-1 (KA-1). Excavations occurred 2014, 2015, and 2019
A Base from Boudiné vessel decorated with finger impressions from stratum 2 of KA-1B; B base of a Boudiné urn decorated by stab-and-drag punctates, a Kansyore ceramic decorative technique, from stratum 2, KA-1D, 2 m north of unit B. Photos: by author
A Carved pendant in two sections, made from elephant ivory with a hole for a string at top, located beneath a Boudiné urn in test unit B; B two ivory bracelet fragments located beneath Boudiné urn in KA-1B. Photos: by author

+30

Remaking the Late Holocene Environment of Western Uganda: Archaeological Perspectives on Kansyore and Later Settlers
  • Article
  • Full-text available

July 2024

·

89 Reads

·

2 Citations

African Archaeological Review

Archaeological and environmental research by an international and interdisciplinary team opens new perspectives into the settlement histories of Kansyore, Early Iron Age, and Bigo period peoples in the once forested regions of the Ndali Crater Lakes Region (NCLR) of western Uganda. The research examines the role of Kansyore agropastoralists and their Early Iron Age and Bantu-speaking contemporaries in remaking a once forested environment into a forest-savannah mosaic from circa 500 BC to the end of the first millennium AD. Archaeological settlement and subsistence evidence is examined within a framework of social interaction of Sudanic speakers with Bantu speakers, drawing on historical linguistics and environmental studies to arrive at a new synthesis of late Holocene history in western Uganda. This perspective also unveils the significance and chronology of Boudiné ware, a long enigmatic ceramic tradition that we identify as contemporary to Transitional Urewe and deeply influenced through social interactions with those making Kansyore ceramics and inhabiting the same landscape. Using archaeological evidence from fifteen sites and multiple burials spanning from 400 to 1650 calAD, new views of ceramic histories, lifeways, and symbolic values are revealed, including Bigo period settlements that arose in what was an environmental refugium beginning in the early fourteenth century AD. This research also shows that the Kansyore of the forested region east of the Rwenzori Mountains had greater affinities to late Holocene archaeological evidence from western Equatoria, in the southern South Sudan, and Kansyore Island, Uganda, than it does to the Kansyore in eastern Kenya.

Download

Figure 3. Map showing the perimeters of the NCLR study area and the three research zones.
Figure 5. Profile of sedimentary record and association AMS radiocarbon dates, 2014 Kabata Swamp core. Schmidt at al. "Remaking Late Holocene."
AMS radiocarbon dates of key environmental and cultural events in the Ndali Crater Lakes Region of western Uganda. The 95% level of confidence is a statistical range for each date-found in the far right column and used in the narrative.
A Tapestry of Human-Induced and Climate-Driven Environmental Change in Western Uganda: The Ndali Crater Lakes Region

March 2024

·

82 Reads

·

2 Citations

History in Africa

Recent archaeological and paleoenvironmental research in the Ndali Crater Lakes Region (NCLR) of western Uganda provide important new insights into anthropogenic impacts on moist forests to the East of the Rwenzori Mountains. This research significantly changes previous interpretations of paleoenvironmental records in western Uganda and helps to distinguish climate change from human impacts. By drawing on multiple sources such as historical linguistics, archaeological evidence, and environmental proxies for change, a new picture emerges for a region that was a cultural crossroads for early Bantu-speakers and Central Sudanic-speakers between 400 BCE and 1000 CE. Detailed archaeological data and well-dated sites provide fine-grained evidence that closely fits episodes of significant environmental change, including a later and separate phase of forest clearance, soil degradation, and lake pollution caused by the saturation of the landscape by Bigo-related populations between 1300 and 1650 CE. Fresque de changements environnementaux induits par l’homme et le climat dans l’ouest de l’Ouganda : la région des lacs du cratère de Ndali


Ethnomedicinal plants used for malaria treatment in Rukungiri District, Western Uganda

August 2023

·

153 Reads

·

9 Citations

Tropical Medicine and Health

Background Malaria remains a major global health challenge and a serious cause of morbidity and mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa. In Uganda, limited access to medical facilities has perpetuated the reliance of indigenous communities on herbal medicine for the prevention and management of malaria. This study was undertaken to document ethnobotanical knowledge on medicinal plants prescribed for managing malaria in Rukungiri District, a meso-endemic malaria region of Western Uganda. Methods An ethnobotanical survey was carried out between May 2022 and December 2022 in Bwambara Sub-County, Rukungiri District, Western Uganda using semi-structured questionnaire. A total of 125 respondents (81 females and 44 males) were randomly selected and seven (7) key informants were engaged in open interviews. In all cases, awareness of herbalists on malaria, treatment-seeking behaviour and herbal treatment practices were obtained. The ethnobotanical data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, informant consensus factor and preference ranking. Results The study identified 48 medicinal plants belonging to 47 genera and 23 families used in the treatment of malaria and its symptoms in the study area. The most frequently cited species were Vernonia amygdalina, Aloe vera and Azadirachta indica. Leaves (74%) was the most used plant organ, mostly for preparation of decoctions (41.8%) and infusions (23.6%) which are administered orally (89.6%) or used for bathing (10.4%). Conclusion Indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used as prophylaxis and for treatment of malaria still exist among the local communities of Bwambara Sub-County. However, there is a need to investigate the antimalarial efficacy, phytochemical composition and safety of species (such as Digitaria abyssinica and Berkheya barbata) with high percentage use values to validate their use.


Themes and subthemes
Community perceptions and practices on quality and safety of drinking water in Mbarara city, south western Uganda

May 2023

·

277 Reads

·

4 Citations

Availability of clean drinking water is a universal human right. The quality of water differs across communities. When the quality is good, community members are the primary beneficiaries but they are also the first ones to experience the consequences of deteriorating quality of water. In most communities, the inhabitants are able to tell if their drinking water is safe and of quality basing on organoleptic properties. The community perceptions and practices about safety and quality of drinking water are informed by their attitudes and levels of knowledge about water quality. This study aimed to assess community perceptions and practices on quality and safety of drinking water in Mbarara city, south western Uganda. A qualitative study was conducted between May and July 2022. Six focus group discussions among community members and four Key informant interviews with stakeholders in the water service were conducted. Data was analysed basing on predetermined themes of: 1) perceived quality of water 2) perceived factors associated with water quality 3) practices related to water quality and 4) perceived solutions for improving water safety and quality. Drinking water safety and quality in Mbarara city is perceived as not good, dirty, salty and limited in supply and the water sources are shared with animals. The poor quality of drinking water is due to poor waste disposal, poor treatment, poor maintenance of systems, flooding, political interference, deficiency in city planning, increase in population growth and water hyacinth. Sensitizing the communities, community participation, proper water treatment and surveillance and monitoring are solutions to ensuring provision, use and maintenance of safe and quality drinking water in Mbarara city.


Aquatic ecosystem changes in a global biodiversity hotspot: Evidence from the Albertine Rift, central Africa

May 2019

·

226 Reads

·

3 Citations

Journal of Biogeography

Aim Determine the extent to which remote, high‐altitude (Afroalpine) aquatic ecosystems in tropical Africa have been impacted by global and regional‐scale environmental change processes. Location Two volcanic crater lakes (Bisoke and Muhavura) in the Afroalpine zone, Albertine (Western) Rift, central Africa. Methods Sediment cores were collected from Bisoke and Muhavura lakes and dated using radiometric techniques. A range of sediment‐based proxies was extracted from the cores and quantified. Sedimentary data were subjected to statistical analyses that contributed to the identification of influential environmental variables and their effects on diatom assemblages, the determination of variations in spatial beta diversity and estimates of the rate of compositional turnover over the last c. 1,200 years. Results Sediments from the two sites provide evidence of the sensitivity of remote, Afroalpine aquatic ecosystems to perturbation. Climate variability has been a major driver of ecological change, particularly at Bisoke Lake, throughout the c. 1,200‐year‐long record, while Muhavura Lake has been directly impacted by and recovered from at least one volcanic eruption during this time. The effects of climatic warming from the mid‐ to late 19th century and especially from the late 20th century, possibly accentuated by atmospheric deposition‐driven nutrient enrichment, appear increasingly in lockstep. Effects include changes in diatom community composition, increased productivity and compositional turnover, and biotic homogenization (reduced spatial beta diversity) between the two sites. Main conclusions The two Afroalpine sites record changes in atmospheric conditions and their effects on diatom assemblage composition, particularly over the last c. 150 years. Drivers of these changes have the potential to disrupt ecosystems at lower altitudes in the Albertine Rift, including biodiverse areas of forest, and across tropical Africa more widely.


Citations (6)


... A recent study in our research group found that the methanolic leaf extract of GLE was rich in total polyphenolics. The extracts had significant antioxidant activity and had median lethal doses higher than 5000 mg/kg, indicating that it is safe [26]. Gouania species have garnered significant attention for their medicinal properties [25,27]. ...

Reference:

Antibacterial and Antioxidant Activities of Flavonoids, Phenolic and Flavonoid Glycosides from Gouania longispicata Leaves
Polyphenolic content, antioxidant activity and acute toxicity of Gouania longispicata Engl. leaves
  • Citing Article
  • June 2025

Letters in Applied NanoBioScience

... We are grateful for the care and interest taken by the commentators on our study of human-environment interactions and interchanges of socio-linguistic groups in the Ndali Crater Lakes Region (NCLR) of western Uganda (Schmidt et al., 2024b). Our longitudinal research has involved significant local collaboration and has enhanced the growth of local archaeological capacity, nicely summed up by Reid (2024): "It is by some distance the most inclusive publication in the history of the archaeology of Uganda and suggests that a cadre of indigenous archaeologists may be beginning to emerge." ...

A Tapestry of Human-Induced and Climate-Driven Environmental Change in Western Uganda: The Ndali Crater Lakes Region

History in Africa

... Herein, an ethnobotanical survey was conducted in Mbarara City to gather ethnomedicinal uses of plants for the management of UF. The survey had a higher proportion of female TMPs (Table 1), plausibly explained by the notion that women are more attached to traditional practices than men, continuously get involved in heritage practices, interpretation, and transmission and are known to exchange information among themselves much more easily (Adia et al., 2014;Gumisiriza et al., 2023;Mathilde, 2021). This observation is also concordant with previous ethnobotanical reports in South Western Uganda, where females of at least 40 years old formed the most significant proportion of the respondents (Asiimwe et al., 2021;Gumisiriza et al., 2023;Maling et al., 2024). ...

Ethnomedicinal plants used for malaria treatment in Rukungiri District, Western Uganda

Tropical Medicine and Health

... However, E. coli bacteria have been detected in the tap water and tank water. The town of Mbarara is a newly established town in Uganda that is struggling with increasing population growth and urbanisation and the associated problems of encroachment on protected water catchment areas and poor waste management (Catherine et al. 2023). Mbarara's tap water is drawn from the Rwizi River. ...

Community perceptions and practices on quality and safety of drinking water in Mbarara city, south western Uganda

... Additional palaeoenvironmental records from nearby regions also provide regional insights to socio-ecological dynamics (Kendall, 1969;Talbot and Livingstone, 1989;Verschuren et al., 2002;Stager et al., 2003Stager et al., , 2005Andama et al., 2012;Morgan and Lejju, 2012;Nakintu and Lejju, 2016;Githumbi, 2017). Comparative analyses that bring together observations from modern ecosystems and paleoenvironmental records from the geologic record provide perspective and insights on contemporary discussions on environmental change and analogues for ancient human-environment interactions (Ashley et al., , 2011Deocampo et al., 2002;Lane, 2016). ...

Environmental Dynamics of Lake Victoria: Evidence from a 10,000 14C yr Diatom Record from Napoleon Gulf and Sango Bay

Journal of Environmental Science and Engineering - A

... Most mountain tropical research is focused on the overriding effect of climate as the sole driver of aquatic change at centennial (Michelutti et al., 2015) and millennial time scales (Bird et al., 2018;McGlynn et al., 2019). Growing evidence indicates that Indigenous (e.g., Incan Empire; 480-420 calibrated years BP; hereafter cal years BP, 1480-1532 CE) and post-European (i.e., following the 1492 CE Columbus arrival; 523 cal years BP) people had also attendant ecological effects on Andean lakes via agropastoralism practices (e.g. ...

Aquatic ecosystem changes in a global biodiversity hotspot: Evidence from the Albertine Rift, central Africa

Journal of Biogeography