Study on the Inhibitory Effect of the Aqueous Extract from the Jujube Pulp against the Crystallization of the Calcium Oxalate

The aim of this work is to study the effect of the aqueous extract of jujube pulp on the crystallization of calcium oxalate. This extract contains, among other chemical species, heterocyclic compounds that we are currently identifying. We prepared the aqueous extract of jujube pulp by boiling 5 %, in terms of weight. Slices of 15 g of pulp were placed in 300 ml of distilled water and brought to the 60, 80 and 100 �C temperatures. A volume ranging from 0.5 to 2 ml of each sample was placed in 5 ml of the sodium oxalate (Na2C2O4) presenting a concentration of 0.005 mol / l. Then, 5 ml of calcium chloride (CaCl2) at a concentration of 0.005 mol / l was added to the mixture. In order to observe the formed crystals, we performed polarizing light optical microscopy (PLOM). The first results show that the size and the number of calcium oxalate crystals is reduced by the presence of aqueous extract of jujube pulp. The monohydrate form of calcium oxalate is completely converted to the dihydrate form. Result that would tend to consider the state of the oxalocaclic solution close to that of calcium oxalate crystalluria. We conclude that the aqueous extract of jujube has an inhibitory effect on calcium oxalate crystals. This effect remains to be confirmed in vivo on the calcium oxalate crystallization in the formation of urine. Such a result is very important since it could contribute in order to avoid the development of urinary calculus.