Abstract
The use of medicinal plants in most developing countries as therapeutic agents for the maintenance of good health is a widespread practice. One of such plant products is Piper guineense, which is a West African spice used in many folklore medicines and has a number of verified pharmacological activities. Proximate analysis reveals that the plant contains crude protein, fat, carbohydrate, vitamins and minerals while preliminary phytochemical screening and gas chromatography-mass spectrophotoscopy of the methanol leaf and seed extract of Piper guineense revealed the presence of several constituents such as alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, flavonoids, terpenes; sesquiterpenoids and monoterpenoids, saponins and secondary metabolites such as Aromadendrene, 1,6,10- Dodecatriene,7,11-dimethyl-3-methylene and piperine, piperidine amongst other secondary metabolites. Studies have revealed that Piper guineense possess several pharmacological and therapeutic properties such as anti-oxidant, anti-microbial, aphrodisiac, anti-parasitic, antiinflammatory, anti-convulsant, molluscicidal, oestrogenic and oxytocic properties. This paper provides a review on the morphology, physicochemical and phytochemical constituents, ethnomedicinal and scientifically proven therapeutic activities of Piper guineense.
Highlights
Humans have since the commencement of civilization, used medicinal plants for their therapeutic value
The World Health Organization (WHO), (2001) further defines a medicinal plant as herbal preparations produced by subjecting plant materials to extraction, fractionation, purification, concentration or other physical or biological processes which may be produced for immediate consumption or as a basis for herbal products
It has been widely observed that traditional medicines and medicinal plants are widely used in most developing countries as therapeutic agents for the maintenance of good health (UNESCO 1998)
Summary
5-0,4-Dimethoxypheny0-13-dimethy1-6Hp9yOrcrcta4d0e1c3e,n4c-idc1aPdydri(mZi)d-i,n2e3-.2d,r4h-yddiornoxeypropyl ester Source: (Ojinnaka et al 2016) Fig. 3: Distribution and concentration of secondary metabolites in the chromatograms of the methanolic extracts of Piper guineense seed
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