Phytochemical Screening of The Leaf Extracts of Hyptis: Spicigera Plant
Phytochemical Screening of The Leaf Extracts of Hyptis: Spicigera Plant
Phytochemical Screening of The Leaf Extracts of Hyptis: Spicigera Plant
National Research Institute for Chemical Technology, Private Mail Bag 1052, Zaria, Nigeria.
2
Department of Chemistry, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
3
Division of Agricultural Colleges, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
4
National Agricultural Extension and Research Liaison Services, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
Received 4 March, 2014; Accepted 7 May, 2014
The present study reports the screening of phytochemical constituents of the leaf extracts of Hyptis
spicigera using hexane, ethylacetate and methanol and the leaf powder of the plant. Qualitative analysis
of phytochemical constituents showed the presence of the following secondary metabolites vitannins,
carbohydrates, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, alkaloids, quinones, coumarin, terpenoids, resins and
cardiac glycosides. The quantitative analysis of total phenolics, alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids and
flavonoids carried out using standard protocols revealed the presence of flavonoids (8.82%), saponins
(6.23%), terpenoids (16.10%), alkaloids (7.55%) and phenolics (20.75%) respectively. Phenolics showed
the highest content (20.75%) while saponins (6.23%) gave the least content. The high content of
phenolics in the plant showed that H. spicigera plant may contain antioxidant properties and could be a
good source of natural antioxidants. Also, the richness in flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids and
terpenoids in this plant can be correlated with its medicinal properties used by traditional herbal
healers in Northern Nigeria.
Key words: Hyptis spicigera, phytochemical screening, secondary metabolites.
INTRODUCTION
Plants have been the subject of human curiosity and use
for thousands of years (Ram et al., 2004) and have
played important roles in many countries of the world for
centuries by providing food, shelter, clothing,
agrochemicals, flavours and fragrances and more
importantly, medicines (Gurib-Fakim, 2006).Traditional
people have relied on medicinal plants to combat various
84
Phytochemical screening
Phytochemical analysis of the crude extracts was carried out
according to standard methods (Harborne, 1998; Sofowora, 1993;
Fanrsworth, 1996; Rangari, 2002).
Ladan et al.
Determination of alkaloids
About 5.0 g of the dried powdered plant was weighed into a 250 ml
beaker and 200 ml of 10% acetic acid in ethanol was added. The
mixture was covered and allowed to stand for 4 h. This was filtered
and the extract concentrated on a water bath to one-quarter of the
original volume. Concentrated ammonium hydroxide solution was
added dropwise to the extract until the precipitation was complete.
The solution was allowed to settle and the precipitate was collected
and washed with dilute ammonium hydroxide and finally filtered,
dried, weighed and the percentage
alkaloid was calculated
(Harborne, 1998).
Determination of saponins
About 15 g of each sample was placed into a conical flask and 100
ml of 20% aqueous ethanol was added. The samples were heated
over a hot water bath for 4 h with continuous stirring at 55C. The
mixture was filtered and the residue re-extracted with another 200
ml and 20% ethanol. The combined extracts were reduced to 40 ml
85
Determination of flavonoids
About 5.0 g of the plant sample was weighed and extracted
repeatedly with 100 ml of 80% aqueous methanol at room
temperature. The whole solution was filtered through whattman
filter paper No 41. The filtrate was evaporated into dryness over a
water bath and weighed to a constant weight. The percentage
flavonoids was then calculated (Soni and Sosa, 2013).
86
Phytochemical constituents
Tannins
Saponins
Steroids
Flavonoids
Alkaloids
Terpenoids
Glycosides
Coumarins
Carbohydrates
Quinones
Resins
Hexane
+
+
+
+
Leaf extracts
Ethylacetate
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Methanol
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Ladan et al.
87
Phytochemical constituents
Total Flavonoids
Terpenoids
Total Saponins
Total Alkaloids
Total Phenolics
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The authors are grateful to the Management of National
Research Institute for Chemical Technology (NARICT),
Zaria, Nigeria for providing necessary chemicals and
equipment for the conduct of this research work.
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Yield (%)
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88
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