Abstract
Searsia burchellii has therapeutic applications in traditional medicine. The aim of the present study was to analyse the phytochemical profiles, total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC) and ferric reducing power of various extracts from roots and leaves of S. burchellii collected from the kingdom of Lesotho. A combination of maceration, hot solvent extraction and solvent-solvent partition techniques were used to obtain methanolic extracts, fractions such as hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol/water from methanolic extracts and water extracts separately from the roots and leaves of S. burchellii. The presence of alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, glycosides, carbohydrates, proteins and phlobatannins were identified from these extracts/fractions. The TPC of these extracts/fractions was found to be in the range of 3.22±0.37 to 247.46±4.33 mg TAE/g DW, respectively. The TFC of these extracts/fractions was found to be in the range of 34.70±4.31 to 278.20±2.01 mg QE/g DW, respectively. Additionally, these extracts/fractions showed a moderate to strong ferric reducing power compared to ascorbic acid. The IC50 values were found to be in the range of 5.35-143.12 and 65.64-348.28 µg/mL for extracts/fractions from the roots and leaves, respectively. Ascorbic acid showed an IC50 value of 20.93 µg/mL. Therefore, the extracts/fractions from S. burchellii have the potential to replace the existing synthetic antioxidants
Highlights
Known by vernacular names such as Karoo kunibush, Karookoeniebos, Motshotlho and Mokhoamphiri, Searsia burchellii belongs to the Anacardiaceae family of the Searsia (Rhus) genus (Smith, 1966; Van Wyk and Gericke, 2000; Germishuizen and Meyer, 2003; Moffett 2007)
The present study aimed to analyse the phytochemical profiles, total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC) and ferric reducing power of various extracts from roots and leaves of S. burchellii collected from the kingdom of Lesotho
The presence of phytochemicals such as alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, glycosides, carbohydrates, proteins, and phlobatannins were identified from these extracts/fractions
Summary
Known by vernacular names such as Karoo kunibush, Karookoeniebos, Motshotlho and Mokhoamphiri, Searsia burchellii belongs to the Anacardiaceae family of the Searsia (Rhus) genus (Smith, 1966; Van Wyk and Gericke, 2000; Germishuizen and Meyer, 2003; Moffett 2007). The species S. burchellii, which belongs to the same Searsia genus, has not been explored well for its biological and pharmacological activities so far. The present study aimed to analyse the phytochemical profiles, total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC) and ferric reducing power of various extracts from roots and leaves of S. burchellii collected from the kingdom of Lesotho. This is the first report of this kind, the species from the Kingdom of Lesotho
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