An assay of some thermal characteristics, chemical and phytochemical constituents of &lt;i&gt;Hymenocarida acida&lt;/i&gt; timber

I.P Udeozo,C.M Ejikeme,A.N Eboatu,H.I Kelle

doi:10.4314/jasem.v21i5.19

Abstract

Timber has always played an influencing role in human lives. The quality of timber and its behavior in response to fire depends on many parameters. As a result Hymenocardiaacidawood was studied in terms of thermal, chemical, physical and variable techniques. The results obtained were as follows: afterglow time 58.33sec, flame duration 271.67sec, flame propagation rate 4.4x10-2cm.s-1, ignition time 3.67sec, thermal conductivity14.37 x 102Umoh/cm, electrical conductivity 4.4x10-3Sm-1, ash content 0.95%, moisture content 12.67%, oven dry density 78.7x10-2g.cm-3, water imbibitions (at different time intervals: 30mins 11.1%, 5hrs 13.8% and 24hrs 22.3%), etc, These results showed it to be a good timber suitable for various construction purposes. Phytochemical screening showed the presence of saponins, tannins, steroids, flavonoids, carbohydrates, proteins, resins, terpenoids, glycosides and alkaloids. The Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (AAS) of the sample showed the presence of some metals such as Na, K, Pb, Ca, As, Zn, Mg, and Cu in the decreasing order of their concentrations. The thin layer chromatographic analysis of the chloroform and chloroform-methanol extracts which gave three spots with Rf values of 0.7, 0.6 and 0.5 was further characterized using Fourier Transform Infrared and Ultraviolet Spectroscopic methods. The Fourier Transform Infrared and Ultraviolet spectra suggested a 1, 2, 3- trisubstitutedphenylamide with OH, CO and CN groups attached as the functional groups present. The chemical components analysis showed the presence of cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and other constituents in their right proportion. The results provided the required information on the properties of Hymenocardiaacidawood. It also confirmed the efficiency of the wood for various construction purposes and its medicinal ability due to the presence of the secondary metabolites.Keywords: Timber, Hymenocardia acida, Functional group analysis, Phytochemical, thermal andchemical constituents

Highlights

Hymenocardia acida is a plant of the Phyllanthaceae family native to tropical Africa
The results of the solubility, physical, thermal investigations and the analysis of the active constituents present in the timber extract of Hymenocardia acida are given in tables 1- 9
The solubility analysis showed that Hymenocardia acida powder completely dissolved only in the presence of heated concentrated tetraoxosulphate (vi) acid

Summary

Introduction

Hymenocardia acida is a plant of the Phyllanthaceae family native to tropical Africa. A tree of the tropics, found at elevations of 500 - 1,200 metres, growing in areas that experience a long dry season. It succeeds on sandy, loam and clayey soils (Dressler et al.,2014). The plant provides food, wood and tannins for local use and is sometimes planted to prevent soil erosion (Arbonnier, 2004). The bark, leaves, leafy shoots and roots have a considerable range of medicinal uses in Africa. Only certain tree species are suitable for a given purpose or end use, be it for building materials, veneers, furniture, musical instruments, and others. There are insufficient information on the wood of Hymenocardiaacida, some thermal and variable properties, chemical constituents, phytochemical and functional group assay of the wood were investigated, determining its suitability

Methods

Results

Conclusion