PHYTOCHEMICAL AND SOME PHARMACOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE AERIAL PART OF ALYSICARPUS OVALIFOLIUS Schumach & Thonn FAMILY: FABACEAE
PHYTOCHEMICAL AND SOME PHARMACOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE AERIAL PART OF ALYSICARPUS OVALIFOLIUS Schumach & Thonn FAMILY: FABACEAE
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Date
2013-03
Authors
BANWO, OLUWAKEMI ABIDEMI
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Abstract
Alysicarpus ovalifolius (Schum.&Thonn) Family: Fabaceae is a protein rich fodder plant that is
widely distributed across Africa, Asia and Australia and medicinally used to treat cough and
wounds. Recently, it has been reported to be used in the Northern part of Nigeria as tea by
commercial motor cycle riders popularly known as “okada riders”, labourers and young people .The
dried powder of the plant was initially defatted with petroleum ether, the marc was further subjected
to extraction with methanol and partitioning with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. The
preliminary phytochemical screening shows the presence of steroids, triterpenes and cardiac
glycosides in the petroleum ether fraction while cardiac glycosides, saponins, steroids, triterpenes
and flavonoids are present in the methanolic extract. The n-butanol fraction was subjected to column
chromatography, gel filtration and preparative thin layer chromatography to yield two compounds
coded D7 and E17. D7 was characterized as a glycosidic flavone (3,5-dihydroxy-4¹-methoxy-7-O-β-
glycosyl flavone,(C19H22O10) and E17 was characterized as 3 β –cholest-5-ene-3-diol using chemical
tests and spectral analysis (1H-NMR) and extensive literature review. The pharmacological studies
carried out on the extract to show it has central nervous stimulant activity are, the drug (diazepam)
induced- sleep in mice and the hole-board experiment. The acute toxicity test of the extract was also
carried out. The diazepam induced-sleep study showed decreased onset of sleep and and increase in
the duration of sleep while the hole board suggest that the n-butanol fraction of methanolic extract
contain constituents which may possess central nervous system stimulant activity as seen in the
exploratory behavior of the mice. It can be said that the plant Alysicarpus ovalifolius
(Schum&Thonn) possess some central nervous stimulant activity and therefore the plant could be
exploited for its stimulant property.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES,
AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF
A MASTER DEGREE IN PHARMACEUTICAL CHEMISTRY
DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICAL AND MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY, FACULTY
OF PHARMACEUTICAL SCIENCES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA.
Keywords
PHYTOCHEMICAL,, PHARMACOLOGICAL STUDIES,, ALYSICARPUS OVALIFOLIUS,, Schumach & Thonn FAMILY,, FABACEAE