Page 24 - UNAM Virtual Graduation 2020 e-Book

FACULTY OF SCIENCE

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (BIOCHEMISTRY)

CANDIDATE: MUKAKALISA Celine

CURRICULUM VITAE

Celine Mukakalisa is of Rwandan origin and has been in Namibia for 23
years. Her high school was completed on higher level, completed her
undergraduate study with a double major Bachelor of Science in Chemistry
and Molecular and Physiological Biology, and obtained her Master’s degree
in Biochemistry from the University of Namibia. Upon completion of her master’s degree, she has been a
member of the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department, where she worked first as a technician and was
promoted to senior technologist with duties ranging from managing laboratories to lecturing. Her research
interest is on biochemistry of medicinal and edible plants.

CANDIDATE’S DISSERTATION

EVALUATION OF ANTIMICROBIAL, ANTIOXIDANT, AND CYTOTOXIC ACTIVITY OF SELECTED NAMIBIAN
INDIGENOUS VEGETABLES AND IDENTIFICATION OF THEIR PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS

The doctoral study was undertaken and completed under the supervision of Dr. Renate H. Hans and co-
supervision of Prof. Martha A. Kandawa-Schulz of the University of Namibia and Dr. Meryn Beukes of the
University of Pretoria (at the time).

Indigenous food plants, sometimes erroneously referred to as the ‘poor man vegetables’, play an important
role in the livelihood of rural communities of Southern Africa where they serve as a source of nutrition and
medicine as well as contribute towards food security and income generation. Moreover, the consumption
of vegetables with high natural antioxidant content has been associated with reduced incidences of
diseases like cancer, arthritis, heart diseases, brain dysfunction and immune system decline.

The candidate investigated the macro-nutritional and medicinal values of six (6) selected indigenous
tuberous vegetables of Namibia consumed by the Jul’hoansi ethnic group of the Khoisan in Tsumkwe. This
study confirmed the nutritional value of the tubers. Of significance is the high protein content of 13 g/100g
dry mass recorded for Coccinea rehmannii, which supports the use of Coccinea plants as a nutritional
protein supplements. Cytotoxicity results against Vero cell line (non-cancerous kidney cells) revealed that
the tuber extracts are non-cytotoxic but reduced the cell viability of HT-29 (Colon Cancer) cells close to 50%
at 200 µg/mL, therefore, they can be considered as a source of Cancer chemopreventative agents. The
best antimicrobial activity was recorded for Eulophia hereroensis which not only supports previous studies
but also validates the traditional use of the corms. This study identified three vegetables namely Eulophia
hereroensis, Trochomaria macrocarpa and Walleria nutans as functional food which merit an in-depth
phytochemical study to isolate and identify potential antimicrobial, antibiofilm forming agents as well as
antioxidants.

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