QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF METHANOIC EXTRACT OF MOMORDICA CHAIANTIA LEAF (EJINRIN) FOR ALKALOIDS, FLAVONOIDS AND PHENOLS

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF METHANOIC EXTRACT OF MOMORDICA CHAIANTIA LEAF (EJINRIN) FOR ALKALOIDS, FLAVONOIDS AND PHENOLS

CHAPTER ONE

1.  Introduction

Plants play a prominent role in maintenance of human health and have been used as medicine since ancient times. According to the estimation of World Health Organization (WHO) (1995), plant extracts are used as medicines in traditional therapies by 80% of the World’s population (Baker et al., 1995) and more than 30% of the plant species have been used for medicinal purposes (Joy et al., 1998). The use of plants as sources of drugs, vegetables and foods cannot be underestimated. Virtually all plants are medicinal hence they serve as raw materials for synthetic drugs (Sofowora, 1993). The medicinal value of these plants lies in some chemical substances that produce a definite physiological action on the  human body (Antony et al., 2013) Therefore, the analysis of these bioactive constituents would help in determining various biological activities of plants.

These bioactive substances which can be present in all plant parts include terpenoids, steroids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, alkaloids (Sofowora, 1993). The medicinal plants of Africa accounts for nearly two third of the total plants species used in modern system of medicine and in rural areas as tea, extracts. Herbal drugs are widely prescribed, even when their biological ingredients are not known, due to their effectiveness, fewer side effects and low cost (Kumar et al., 2009; Ajayi et al., 2011). The rational design of novel drugs from traditional medicine obtained from plant offers new prospectsin modern health care (Manjamalai et al., 2010).

Medicinal plants have been identified and used throughout human history. Plants have the ability to synthesize a wide variety of chemical compounds that are used to perform important biological functions, and to defend them against attack from predators such as insects, fungi and herbivorous mammals. At least 12,000 of such compounds have been isolated so far; a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total (Tapsell, 2006). Chemical compounds in plants mediate their effects on the human body through processes identical to those already well understood for the chemical compounds in conventional drugs; thus herbal medicines do not differ greatly from conventional drugs in terms of how they work. The conventional medicine is more than the herbal medicine in terms of their standards and purity (Lai & Roy, 2004).

The use of plants as medicines predates written human history (Fabricant & Farnsworth, 2001). Ethno botany (the study of traditional human uses of plants) is recognized as an effective way to discover future medicines. In 2001, researchers identified 122 compounds used in modern medicine which were derived from “ethno medical” plant sources; 80% of these have had an ethnomedical use identical or related to the current use of the active elements of the plant. Many of the pharmaceuticals currently  available to physicians have a long history of use as herbal remedies, including aspirin, digitalis, quinine, opium etc. (Fabricant & Farnsworth, 2001).The use of herbs to treat diseases is almost universal among non industrialized societies, and is often more affordable than purchasing expensive modern pharmaceuticals.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80 percent of the populations of some Asian and African countries presently use herbal medicines for some aspects of primary health care (Edgar et al., 2002). Studies in the United States and Europe have shown that their use is less common in clinical settings, but has become increasingly more in recent years as scientific evidence about the effectiveness of herbal medicine has become more widely available.

Momordica charantia is a species of Momordica belonging to the Cucurbitaceae family with the common name, bitter mole, or bitter gourd, (English). In most States in Nigeria it is used as food as well as medicine. It is not formally cultivated as a commercial crop anywhere in the world (Makgakga; 2004). It is normally cooked with pounded groundnut (peanut butter) and beans to serve as dish and to improve the flavour. It is on this note that this research seek to carryout a qualitative and quantitative analysis of methanoic extract of momordica charantia (ejinrin) for alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols.

1.1       Aim of the Study

The Aim of the study is to carryout the qualitative and quantitative analysis of methanoic extract of Monordica charantia leaf for alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols.

1.2       Objectives of the Study

            The specific objectives of the study include the following:

1. To carry out a qualitative analysis of methanoic extract of Momordica charantia leaf for alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols.
2. To carryout a quantitative analysis of methanoic extract of Monordica charantia leaf for alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols.

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE SCREENING OF GLIRICIDIA SEPIUM FOR ALKALOIDS, FLAVONOIDS AND PHENOLS

QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE SCREENING OF GLIRICIDIA SEPIUM FOR ALKALOIDS, FLAVONOIDS AND PHENOLS

CHAPTER ONE

1.0       INTRODUCTION

Medicinal properties of plants always have interested people since ancient times. Different cultures around the world have a variety of medicinal traditions that include the use of plants and other plant products in curing different diseases [1]. A report of the World Health Organization tells that 80% of the world population mainly rely on traditional therapies which involve the use of plant extracts or their active substances [2]. Plant products remain the principal source of pharmaceutical drugs and agents used in traditional medicine [3]. With about half a million plants around the world, medicinal plants have a promising future [4].

Medicinal plants are considered as a rich resource of ingredients which can be used in drug development including pharmacopoeial, non- pharmacopoeial, or synthetic drugs [5]. The modern pharmaceutical industry itself still relies largely on the diversity of secondary metabolites in plants and secondary metabolites, of which at least 12,000 have been isolated; a number estimated to be less than 10% of the total [4].

In spite of enormous advances of modern scientific medicine, traditional medicine is still the primary form to treat diseases of majority of people in developing countries, even among those to whom western medicine is available, the number of people using one form or another of complementary of alternative medicine is rapidly increasing worldwide.

According to WHO (World Health Organisation) it was estimated that about 80% of population depends on the medicinal plants for their primary health care needs, even though the allopathic medicine is available. These kinds of changes may have deep impact on the safety and efficacy of the naturally originated drugs in the market.  Recent knowledge on the natural therapy which can overcome the side effects of allopathic medicine the current therapy is moving towards the natural therapy. The natural therapy includes treatment with medicinal plants, herbs etc.

At present no drug is proven to be effective without side effects. Major part of population in the country depends on medicinal plants for health care. Research teams in pharmaceutical fields are being focussed on the medicinal plants to separate and elute the principle compound from the plant, which helps for treating the diseases.

Gliricidia sepium belongs to the family Papilionaceae is a tree having large sizes, tall heights, large girths and seeds in pots. Gliricidia literally means “Rat poison”. Generally the trees survive and grow well under a wide range of climatic and adaptic conditions. Entire parts of tree-barks, roots, leaves etc. have been reported to be useful ethno medicinally [3]. Aqueous and organic extracts of plants have been used as wound-dressing, treatment of dysentery, mosquitoes repellant, fumigants [4], antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral as well as CNS depressant [5]. Plant parts have been a source of herbal medicine which has been shown to be  effective and about 80% of population depend on their use as primary health care [6].

Phytochemical screening is a method which exposes or reveals certain components or properties readily available in plants for bio-activity or ethno-medical applications. Plant  based antimicrobials has enormous therapeutic potential as they can serve the purpose with lesser side effects that are often associated with synthetic antimicrobials [7] Thus it is anticipated that phytochemical with adequate antibacterial efficiency can be used for the treatment of bacterial infections [8]. Antioxidants and antimicrobial properties of various extracts from many plants have recently been of great interest in both research and in food industry, because of their possible use as natural additives to replace synthetic antioxidants and antimicrobials with natural ones [9] Thus medicinal plants play an important role in the development of newer drugs because of their effectiveness, less side effects and relatively low cost when compared with synthetic drugs [10] The present study aims in exploring the phytochemical constituents, antibacterial and antifungal properties of the crude leaf extracts of Gliricidia sepium (L).

Gliricidia sepium known as Agunmaniye (in yoruba), Madre de Cacao (local) is a medium-size, semi-deciduous tree that typically grows to 10 m (33 ft) (occasionally reaching 15 m (50 ft)) in height, with a broad canopy (Nazli et al., 2011). According to the Agroforestry Database in 2009 and to De Boer et al (2005), G. sepium (Agunmaniye) has been shown to have high antifungal activity. G. sepium contains various phytochemicals like flavonoids, sterols, alkaloids, glycosides, tannins, saponins,(Sahin et al, 2004) medicarpin, coumarin, and coumaric acid have been isolated and characterized from the plant that showed antifungal and antibacterial properties (Jose and Reddy, 2010).

Phytcohemicals such as flavonoids, effectively controls fungal pathogen such as Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cubense (Terreros and Adriana., 2009). Medicarpin increases the release of phytoalexins (Soby et al., 2006) which is released by plants to combat pathogenic infection (Hasegawa et al., 2010). Coumarin and coumaric acids both prevent the entrance of nutrients into a fungal cell (Geweelly, 2009) thus resulting in the fungus’s cell lysis or death (Alvim et al., 2005). Saponins causes loss of membrane integrity (Zhang and Xu, 2006) and is lethal to fungal pathogens (De Lucca et al., 2006)

1.2       Aim of the Study

The aim of this study is to carry out a qualitative and quantitative screening of Gliricidia sepium for alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols

1.3       Objectives of the Study

1. The determine the qualitative screening of Gliricidia sepium for alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols
2. To determine the quantitative screening of Gliricidia sepium for alkaloids, flavonoids and phenols