Phytochemical screening of Xylopia aethiopica with emphasis on its medicinally active principles

Abstract

This work aimed at investigating the functional types and compositions of bioactive compounds in Xylopia aethiopica. Plant parts (petiole, leaf, seed, stem bark, and roots) were collected from Vandeikya Local Government Area of Benue State, North Central Nigeria. Extracts were qualitatively screened following standard protocols. Phytochemicals were screened and tested. This was followed by quantitative analysis of selected bioactive compounds using double extraction gravimetric method. Data were statistically analysed using SPSS software. From the result, alkaloids, saponins, tannins, reducing sugar, anthraquinones, steroids, flavonoids, and glycosides were present in the parts investigated. The stem bark contained very high amount of saponin (8.33%), alkaloid (5.67%) and flavonoid (5.24%). The seed had moderate amount of the quantified compounds. The high positive correlation between flavonoid and alkaloid (+0.999) was the most significant value (p=0.022) obtained though the quantified chemicals were all positively correlated. Therefore, based on quantity, the bark is the most important part of medicinal importance followed by the seed. Based on functional types of phytochemicals, the petiole is the most important part which contains 7 out of 9 active principles screened, followed by the bark and the leaf. Therefore, the tree could serve as a source of making different types of cheap multifunctional drugs. Key words: Extracts, bioactive compounds, phytochemicals, correlation, drug, Xylopia aethiopica.