Abstract
Background: Pergularia daemia of the Asteraceae family has wide use in ethno-medicine. It is established to have pharmacologicall activity with potential medicinal significance as an antifungal, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiinflamatory, analgesic, fertility, hepatoprotective and antic ancer agent . Aim: This study estimated the qualitative and quantitative amount of of phytochemicals in Pergularia daemia plant and the and antioxidant capacity was also determined. Setting: The fresh plants of P. Daemia were collected from Ido-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria and was identified at Plant Biology Department of the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. The samples were air-dried, pulverized and stored properly for investigation. Method: Both qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analyses of the leaves and stem were determined through n-hexane, ethyl acetate and ethanol extracts of P. daemia . Antioxidant activities of the extracts were evaluated with 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryhydroxyl (DPPH). The antibacterial and antifungal assay of the extracts were determing by dissolving 1 mg of the extract in 5 mL of the extracting solvent to give a 200 µg/mL solution. Results: Flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids and glycosides were present in all the stem and leaf extracts of P. daemia . The total phenolic content of the extracts ranged from 15.898 ± 0.111 mgGA/g to 54.679 ± 0.675 mgGA/g. The leaf has higher concentration of flavonoids than the stem and the ethanol extracts contain highest content of flavonoids. The concentration of the ethanol extract of the leaf was 400.196 mg QE/g while that of ethyl acetate and n-hexane were 388.627 mg QE/g and 338.725 mg QE/g respectively at 10 mg/mL. Ethanol extracts has the highest concentration of phenolic compounds, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity. Conclusion: The results derived from this study validate the ethno-medicinal use of the aerial parts of P. daemia .
Highlights
The oldest form of treatment known to humans is the application of herbs to cure ailments and diseases
The phytochemicals are responsible for the therapeutic efficiencies and efficacies of medicinal plants (Shoge, Ndukwe & Amupitan 2011) and are present in high concentrations in ethanol, a polar solvent
The results show that P. daemia has a high content of flavonoids and other phenolic compounds but can only be efficiently extracted with polar solvents
Summary
The oldest form of treatment known to humans is the application of herbs to cure ailments and diseases. Even in developed countries where pharmaceuticals are readily accessible, many still prefer herbal drugs over the pharmaceutical drugs (Sridevi, Prema & Sekar 2014) This development has attracted the interest of pharmaceutical companies and has led to serious research in the field of medicinal plants (Kotnis et al 2004). The medicinal plant of interest is Pergularia daemia, which belongs to the Asteraceae family It is a slender, hispid, fetidsmelling perennial climber with small, white flowers and is commonly found in central India and Africa. Hispid, fetidsmelling perennial climber with small, white flowers and is commonly found in central India and Africa It is used in ethno-medicine and has been proved to be pharmacologically active with potential medicinal significance as an antifungal, antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, antipyretic, fertility, hepatoprotective and anticancer agent (Karthishwaran & Mirunalini 2010). It is established to have pharmacologicall activity with potential medicinal significance as an antifungal, antioxidant, antimicrobial, antiinflamatory, analgesic, fertility, hepatoprotective and antic ancer agent
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