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Ethnobotanical Leaflets 14: 570-77. 2010. Preliminary
Phytochemical and Proximate Analysis of the leaves
of Piliostigma thonningii (Schumach.) Milne-Redhead *Egharevba, Henry Omoregie and Kunle, Folashade Oluyemisi Department of Medicinal Plant
Research and Traditional Medicine National Institute for
Pharmaceutical Research & Development (NIPRD) Idu Industrial
Layout Idu, P.M.B. 21 Garki- E-mail: omoregieegharevba@yahoo.com Issued
Abstract Piliostigma thionningii
(Schumach) Milne-Redhead
leaves from Idu Area of the Federal Capital
Territory (FCT) Key words:
Piliostigma thionningii,
phytochemical screening, proximate composition. Introduction Piliostigma thonningii
is a leguminous plant belonging to the family Leguminosae
-Caesalpinioideae, a family that comprises of
trees, shrubs or very rarely scramblers. The tree is perennial in nature and
its petals are white to pinkish colour produced
between November and April. The fruit is hairy, hard and flattish pod, which
turns rusty brown, woody, twisted and splits at ripening and usually
persistent on the tree between June and September (Jimoh
and Oladiji, 2005).
The plant usually grows as small to medium-size tree to 8m high short
twisted bole and twisted branches. The wood is reddish-brown turning dirty
brown (Burkill 1995). The
leaves are edible and chewed to relieve thirst by the Masai
of East Africa. The fruit and seeds are also edible. The pods and foliage are
nutritious and relished by cattle and elephant (Burkill
1995). The inner bark is used to make rope.
The sapwood is straight grained and light brown, heartwood is pinkish
to dark brown and contributes less bulk. A gum tapped from the bark is used
in caulking. Three dyes can be obtained from the plant, the bark produces a
red-brown dye, the pods produce a black and blue dye. The roasted seeds and
root can also be used in dye production. The bark has a tannin content of
18%, though unquantified the roots have
considerably high tannin content (Burkill 1995). Piliostigma thionningii
has been reported in literature to have age-long folkloric use in traditional
medicine, especially in the treatment of malaria fever, wounds, ulcers,
gastric/heart pain, gingivitis and as an antipyretic. According to the
traditional healers in Doila, this plant is called
child remedy as it is mainly used as a remedy for children except its use
against arthritis, headache, hemorrhoids and backache. The most frequent of
them according to citation frequency is the use against malaria (40%)
followed by the use against the children digestive disorder called abdominal
flatulence (16%) and child malnutrition (8%) (Ajali,
2002). In the literature the most frequent use of the bark of P. thonningii is in treating
cough, usually as an infusion or by chewing of the bark. A common use in The
leaf decoction is a laxative and is given to children .The infusion is given
to new born babies as tonic, embrocating to massage mothers abdomen; it
serves as a lotion for lumbago. The leaves after soaking in hot water are
applied topically for wound dressing and a leaf decoction is applied to the
excision wound in the south West African region (Odukoya,
2002). Locally
in It
has been reported in literature that the D-3-0 methylchiroinositol,
the anthhelmintic component of P. thonningii stem-bark extract, induce
approximately 60% larval paralysis within 24hrs of contact with Haemonchus contostus
larva at 4.4mg/ml .This level of activity confirms the use of P. thonnigii stem-bark extract to
treat helminthiasis in African traditional medicine
( Although
considerable information now exists on the nutrient composition of most well
known and easily cultivated legumes in Nigeria, no information could however
be obtained concerning the nutritional properties of the seeds of this plant
that is not cultivated but not well known. Moreover, different parts of P.
thonningii have also been described as useful
medicinally. Its root and twig have been used for the treatment of dysentery,
fever, infections, respiratory ailments, snake bites, hookworm and skin
diseases (Jimoh and Oladiji
2005). However, although there are many reported folkloric claims on the
medicinal usefulness of this plant and some research report on selected parts
such as roots and stem bark, there is no report on the phytochemical
chemical screening and proximate composition of the leaves of this plant especially
with regards to the one obtained in Materials and Methods The
P. thonningii
plant was collected from Idu area of Phytochemical analysis:
The pulverized sample was dried for two weeks and was used for phytochemical analysis to determine the secondary
metabolites present using standard methods (Sofowora
2008). Proximate analysis:
were carried out to determine the moisture content, total ash value, alcohol
and water soluble extractive value and acid insoluble ash value. Determination of
Total Ash Value: A nickel crucible was heated to a
constant weight at 1050C and 2g of powdered sample was weight into
the crucible. The crucible with content was gently heated until temperature
rose to 6000C and allowed to ash for 6hrs. The crucible was cooled
to room temperature in a dessicator and weighed. Determination of
Acid-insoluble Ash Value: The ash above was transferred
into a beaker with 15mL 10% hydrochloric acid. The crucible was rinsed with
5mL of the same acid twice and the wash combined with the content of the
beaker. The beaker was then boiled for 5 minutes and filtered hot through and
ash less filter paper. The beaker was washed with water and passed through
the filter paper. The washing was repeated trice and filtered in a manner
that allow the residue collect at the tip of the cone of the filter paper.
The funnel along with filter paper was dried in the oven at 1050C.
The crucible was also dried to a constant weight and the weight noted. The
dried filter paper was folded into a small and transferred into the crucible.
The crucible was gently heated to 6000C for 2hr for complete ashing of its content. The crucible and content was
cooled to room temperature in a dessicator and
weighed. Determination of
Alcohol Extractive Value: 5g of powdered
material was weighed into 250mL stopper conical flask containing 100mL of 90%
ethanol and the stopper replaced. The flask and content was placed in a mechanical
shaker for 6hrs and then allowed to stand for 18hrs. The mixture was filtered
and 20mL of the filtrate was measured into an evaporating dish with a known
weight, and evaporated to dryness. The constant weight of the residue was
gotten after drying in the oven at 1050C for about 3 minutes. The
extractive value was determined by extrapolation. Determination of
Water Extractive Value: The procedure was the same as above except that 0.25% v/v chloroform
in water was prepared and used in place of 90% ethanol. Determination of
moisture content: A moisture content weighing balance
was used.
Results and
Discussion The
photochemical screening of P. thionningii leaves reveals the presence of tannins, flavonoids, glycosides, balsams, terpenes,
saponnins and volatile oils. The leaves did not
show the presence of steroids, anthraquinones,
resins, alkaloid and phlobatannins. The presence of
these secondary metabolites suggests that the plant might be of industrial
and medicinal importance. Cardiac
glycosides are known to work by inhibiting the Na+/K+ pump.
This caused an increase in the level of sodium ions in the myocytes and then led to a rise in the level of Ca2+.
This inhibition increase the amount of Ca2+ ions available for
contraction of the heart muscle which improves cardiac output and reduces
distention of heart; thus are used in the treatment of congestive heart
failure and cardiac arrhythmia. (Ngbede et al., 2008). Terpenes
are very important group of organic compounds that have been reported as
potent drugs used in treatment of wide range of ailments. They can be simple
essential oils to the more complex triterpenes and teraterpenes. The most rapidly acting anti-malarial, artemisinin and its derivatives are terpenes
(Evans 2002). The presence of terpenes will
encourage further research for possible new drugs leads. Saponins
from plants have long been employed for their detergent properties. It is
used as mild detergents and in intracellular histochemistry
staining to allow antibody access to intracellular proteins. In medicine, it
is used in hypercholesterolaemia, hyperglycaemia, antioxidant, anti-cancer,
anti-inflammatory and weight loss etc, (Ngbede et al., 2008). Seigler
(1998) reported that saponnins have
anti-carcinogens’ properties, immune modulatory
activity and cholesterol lowering activity. it is also been reported to have
anti-fungal properties (Sodipo et al.1991).
Some saponins glycosides are cardiotonics
while others are contraceptives and precursors for other sex hormones (Evans
2002). Tannins
sacs are known to be common in Caesalpinoideae and
known to exhibit antiviral, antibacterial and anti-tumor activities. It was
also reported that certain tannins are able to inhibit HIV replication selectively
and is also used as diuretic. Plant tannins are also source of commercial
tannic acids and tanning agents (Evans 2002). Balsams
or balsamic resins have a wide variety of uses. Benzoin
for instance, when taken internally, acts as an expectorant and antiseptic. Others like the balsam of Peru are used as parasiticides and as an antiseptic in dressing wounds. It
is also used in the treatment of catarrh and diarrhea. It is also used widely
used in foods, drinks, perfumes, toiletry, and as a component of incense
(Evans 2002) Flavonoid
has been referred to as nature’s biological response modifiers because of
strong experimental evidence of their inherent ability to modify the body’s
reaction to allergen, virus and carcinogens. They show anti-allergic,
anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-cancer activities. Some flavonoids have also be reported to behave like the some coumarins in the inhibition of giant cell formation in
HIV-infected cell cultures (Evans 2002) The
volatile oil may be useful analgesic and in industry as fragrance. Some
volatile oils are used as antiseptics, sedatives, emollient and demulcents
(Evans 2002). More work is however necessary to determine the yield and
biological activity of the oil content of the leaves of P. thionningii. The
plant’s leaves in its dried form may have a good shelf-life with reduced
chance of microbial growth due to its relatively low moisture content of
9.90%. Total ash value of 4.62%, which is low, implies that the plant has
good or high organic components and a rather low inorganic or mineral
constituent. Alcohol soluble extractive value of 11.28% and the water soluble
extractive value of 2.67% show that alcohol rather than water would be a better
solvent of extraction of the leaves of the plant. Acid insoluble ash value of
0.91% shows that small amount inorganic compound is insoluble in acid and
therefore the plant leaves may be readily digested and absorbed when
consumed. This may have informed some of it ethno-uses in some communities. In
conclusion, the leaves of Piliostigma thionningii has been shown to possess secondary
metabolites, some of which has also been reported in its fruits (Ngbede et al.,
2008) and therefore may be a very important source of photochemical for new
drug leads. It is our recommendation that bioassay guided work be carried out
on the leaves with a view to isolating a useful pharmacologically active
component as a drug. We are currently investigating it for anti-malarial
properties. References Ajali,
U. (2002). Chemistry of Bio-Compounds.
1st Edition, Rhyce Kerex
Publishers, Burkill,
H.M. (1995). The useful plants of West
Tropical Africa. 2 Edn., Royal Botanic GardenKew, pp. 146-149. Cowan,
M. M. (1999). Plant Products as Anti-Microbial Agent. Department of
Microbiology, Evans,
W. C. (2002). Trease and Evans Pharmacognosy.
15th Edition, Jimoh,
F. O. and Oladiji A. T. (2005). Preliminary studies
on Piliostigma thonningii
seeds: Preliminary
analysis, mineral composition and phytochemical
screening. Afr. J. Biotechnol.,
4: 1439-1442. Odukoya,
O. A. (2002). Herbs, Species and Medicinal Plants. Nig. J. Pharm. Res. 1: 39-40. Ngbede
J., Yakubu, R. A. and Nyam,
D. A. (2008). Phytochemical Screening for Active
Compounds in Canarium scheinfurthii
(Atile) leaves from Jos
North, Seigler,
D. S. (1998). Plants with saponins and cardiac
glycosides. www.lifwe.vinc.edu/plantbio/363/saponinslides
Sodipo,
O. A., Awanji, M. A., Kolawole,
F. B. and Oduntuga, A. A. (1991). Saponin is the active fungal principle in Garcinia kola, Hekle
seed. BioSci.Res.Commun., 3:171. Sofowora,
A. (2008). Medicinal Plants and
Traditional Medicine in Table 1: Results of the phytochemical
screening of the leaves of P. thonningii.
Key: + =
Present; - = Absent Table 2: Results of the proximate analysis of the
leaves of Piliostigma thonningii.
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