Abstract
The root bark, stem bark and leaves of Terminalia macroptera were sequentially extracted with ethanol, 50% ethanol-water, and 50 °C and 100 °C water using an accelerated solvent extractor. Ten bioactive purified polysaccharide fractions were obtained from those crude extracts after anion exchange chromatography and gel filtration. The polysaccharides and their native extracts were characterized with respect to molecular weight, chemical compositions and effects in the complement assay. The chemical compositions showed that the polysaccharides are of pectic nature. The results indicated that there was no great difference of the complement fixation activities in the crude extracts from the different plant parts when extracting with the accelerated solvent extraction system. The purified polysaccharide fractions 100WTSBH-I-I and 100WTRBH-I-I isolated from the 100 °C water extracts of stem and root bark respectively, showed the highest complement fixation activities. These two fractions have rhamnogalacturonan type I backbone, but only 100WTSBH-I-I contains side chains of both arabinogalactan type I and II. Based on the yield and activities of the fractions studied those from the root bark gave highest results, followed by those from leaves and stem bark. But in total, all plant materials are good sources for fractions containing bioactive polysaccharides.
Highlights
Terminalia macroptera Guill. & Perr. (Combretaceae) is a tree, up to 20 m high, which occurs widely in West Africa
Extraction with Accelerated solvent extraction (ASE) showed that the root bark gave higher yields of crude extracts than what was obtained from the stem bark and leaves
The root bark, stem bark and leaves of T. macroptera were traditionally used against wounds and various infection diseases
Summary
Terminalia macroptera Guill. & Perr. (Combretaceae) is a tree, up to 20 m high, which occurs widely in West Africa. In Mali T. macroptera is used against a variety of ailments, and more than 30 different indications have been mentioned by the traditional healers in ethnopharmacological studies. The stem bark and leaves are most commonly used against sores and wounds, pain, cough, tuberculosis and hepatitis [1]. The roots are used against hepatitis, gonorrhea and various infectious diseases, including. Flavonoids [6,7,8], triterpenoids [9,10], ellagitannins [11] and related phenolics [3,9,12], have been identified from different parts of T. macroptera. Ellagitannins are known antimicrobial compounds which may be related to the use of the leaves against wounds and infections [13]
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