A validation study was conducted in the Maasai and Batemi communities of Arusha, Tanzania between December 1996 and January 1997. The aim of this study was to compare a participatory nutrition status assessment procedure carried out by community members with an assessment completed by a professional. The study validated women (15--50 years of age) dietary intake assessments and assessed the reliability of anthropometric assessments of preschool (12--71 months) children in the hands of non-professionals. The prevalence of under-nutrition was similar for the two data sets and reliability of anthropometric measurements was found to be good except for the mid-upper-arm circumference measurement for which the difference between measurements of the professional and the nonprofessional and between two occasions differed significantly (p < 0.001). Results suggest that participatory nutrition status assessment procedure by community members is useful and fairly reliable, giving results similar to a procedure administered by a professional for some anthropometric indices. The correlation between a semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire administered by community members and a series of three 24-h recalls administered by a professional for assessing the risk of inadequate intake was found to be weak for vitamin A and protein but moderate for iron. Spearman's rank correlation coefficients between the mean of three 24-h recalls values and semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire estimates were 0.47 (p < 0.05) for iron, 0.29 (p < 0.05) for protein and 0.26 (p < 0.05) for vitamin A. The questionnaire produced results showing significantly higher intake estimates of protein (p < 0.001), vitamin A (p < 0.001) and iron (p < 0.01) than the average of three 24-hour recalls.

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Bioactive phytochemicals, such as phenols, could depict one cardioprotective factor in the diet of the Maasai. Therefore, 41 samples from of plants commonly ingested by the Maasai, were investigated for the presence of phenols and antioxidant activity. Phenols were detected in all 41 crude extracts. All extracts were screened for antioxidant activity using 2 radicals (1,1 diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) radical; peroxyl radical). Extracts that displayed activity equal to or significantly greater than the antioxidant standards (ascorbic acid; Trolox) in both screening tests include (p < 0.05): Acacia nilotica and Acacia drepanolobium. These results were significantly correlated to total phenols (r = -0.51 and 0.79; p < 0.01). Eleven extracts were assessed for their ability to protect LDL from in-vitro oxidation and these extracts showed this ability equal to or significantly greater than the antioxidant standards (p < 0.05). Dose response was demonstrated in this assay using 3 concentrations of the crude extract of A. drepanolobium and an ethyl acetate fraction of this extract exhibited significantly stronger activity than the other fractions (water, chloroform) (p < 0.05). All extracts were of a mixed chemical nature and yet some displayed antioxidant activity equal to or greater than the pure antioxidants standards. The correlations established suggest that the antioxidant activity is phenolic in make-up.

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Dietary phytochemicals such as saponins have been suggested to have therapeutic uses in the prevention and alleviation of hypercholesterolemia. Thus, twelve Tanzanian plant additives hypothesized to contain saponins and used in soup by the Batemi, were investigated for in vitro hypocholesterolemic potential by: (1) screening for likelihood of detectable saponins using TLC, hemolysis, frothing ability and molluscicidal activity. (2) using changes in hemolytic activity to indirectly examine interactions of plant extracts with cholesterol, cholesterol-analogues, conjugated bile salts and non-conjugated bile salts. (3) using radiolabelled cholesterol to examine direct binding capacity of extracts with cholesterol. Albizia anthelmintica, Myrsine africana and Acacia goetzii were most likely to contain saponins and had significant (p $<$ 0.05) hemolytic activity that was effected by the presence of cholesterol, cholesterol analogues, conjugated and non-conjugated bile salts (p $<$ 0.05). Methanol, ethyl acetate, aqueous and n-butanol extracts of A. anthelmintica and methanol, ethyl acetate and aqueous extracts of A. goetzii bound significant amounts of cholesterol solubilized in ethanol (p $<$ 0.05). Thus, saponins are a detectable component of the Batemi diet and extracts likely containing saponins do interact with chemicals that have been proposed to be involved in in vivo mechanisms of saponin induced hypocholesterolemia. A. anthelmintica and A. goetzii seem likely to have hypocholesterolemic potential as dietary additives.

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The Maasai of East Africa traditionally consume a diet of milk, meat, and blood. Previous studies have found the Maasai to suffer from vitamin A deficiency (VAD). This micronutrient deficiency compromises systemic immunity and increases morbidity and mortality. A semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) was used to investigate the vitamin A intake of small Maasai children in Loita, Kenya. On average, children consumed 596mug/dayRAE from retinoid sources and 956mug/dayRAE when coupled with beta-carotene sources. The measles virus (MV) has yet to be eradicated from East Africa and remains a threat to young children. The Maasai have developed methods to deal with this disease and improve systemic immunity by introducing medicinal plants into the diet. Plant species added to the milk and soups of small children were determined using the FFQ. Antiviral properties of the seven most common dietary plants were then investigated, measuring MV neutralization and MV production, and compared to 7 arbitrarily selected non-medicinal plants. Significant differences (X2 p < 0.05) were found between the antiviral actions of medicinal and non-medicinal species.

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