Phytochemicals and nutritional characteristics of ethanol extract of the leaf and bark of Njangsa (Ricinodendron Heudelotii) plant

The phytochemical, proximate and mineral content of leaf and bark of Njangsa (Ricinodendron Heudelotii) plant were analysed, using standard procedures described by Harbone, 1973, Sofowora, 1993; Trease and Evans, 1989 and Association of Official Analytical Chemist (AOAC) Official method, 1990; 1984 respectively. The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of tannins, steroids, terpernoids, alkaloids, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, reducing sugars and saponins found only for the plant bark. The result of proximate analysis showed that the leaf and bark of the extract contain respectively: moisture content (25.80% and 10%), protein (17.47% and 3.73%), crude fat(1.80% and 2.00%) ash (11.00% and 10.95%), crude fibre (41.00% and 20.50%) carbohydrate (2.93% and 52.82%).The mineral analysis of the plant leaf and bark respectively yielded calcium – 2640.00 mg/kg and 1772 mg/kg, magnesium – 2383 mg/kg and 1605 mg/kg, iron – 25.00 mg/kg and 6.6 mg/kg, zinc – 29.30 mg/kg and 4.4 mg/kg, copper – 14.60 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg and phosphorus – 1012 mg/kg and 305 mg/kg. Manganese was absent in the bark but yielded 1.1 mg/kg in the leaf. Sodium and potassium were found to be absent in the leaf and bark. The presence of some phytochemicals (flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, reducing sugar, tannins and terpernoids) and some essential minerals suggest that it is a potential source of medicine and food.Keywords: Phytochemical, Nutritional Characteristics, Proximate, Mineral, Medicinal, Analysi

Phytochemical Profiling of 30% Acetone Honeybee Crude Extract Collected From Ondo West Forest, Ondo State, Nigeria

Communication in Physical Sciences, 2022, 8(4):647-651 Akens Hamilton-Amachree Received: 02 June 2022/Accepted 20 December  2022 Chemical data on the phytochemistry of crude honeybee residue may be useful in the development of therapeutic substances for alternative medicines. This has necessitated the present study, which involves the probing of 30% acetone crude extract of crude honeybee residue (collected from the Ondo North forest of Ondo state, Nigeria). The crude honeybee residue was assayed for its phytoconstitutions via qualitative phytochemical screening and quantitatively through high-pressure liquid chromatography(HPLC).   The results obtained from the phytochemical investigation indicated the presence of alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, phenols and glycosides. However, HPLC spectrum reveals the presence of quercetin (27.84%) and kaempferol (23.31%) showing retention times of 36.64 and 38.70 min respectively. The identified phytochemicals were the major constituents and are known for their medicinal significance

Phytoconstitution and Antimicrobial Activity of Costus Lucanusianus Floral Volatile Extract

Communication in Physical Sciences, 2023, 9(1):73 -79 Authors: Akens Hamilton-Amachree and Ngozi M. Uzoekwe Received: 12 December 2022/Accepted 30 March 2023 Information on volatile constituents of plant extracts have a significant backing to theseveral biological activities and applications of plants. Consequently, in this work, phyto content and the antimicrobial activity of the volatile floral extract of Costus lucanusianus are investigated in this work to complement the information database on plant volatile components. The volatile constituents of the floral part were extracted using the conventional hydrodistillation technique and its phyto-constitution was determined via Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) instrumentation. The antimicrobial pharmacological activity was established using the pour method against eight (8) strains of microbes. The volatile extract has a total of twenty-three (23) phytochemicals comprising eight (8) sesquiterpenes, four (4) sesquiterpenoids and eleven (11) non-terpenoids. The major identified constituents are           4-(3-hydroxy-2-methoxyphenyl)-but-2-one (38.29%), 1-(4-Hydroxymethoxy-phenyl)dec-4-en-3-one (13.83%),[S-(R*,S*)] 5-(1,5-dimethyl-4-hexenyl)-2-methyl-1,3-cyclohexad- iene  (7.66%), 1-(1,5-dimethyl-4-hexenyl)-4-methyl- benzene (6.13%), decanal (4.35%),[S-(R*,S*)]-3-(1,5-dimethyl-4-hexenyl)-6-methy- lene- cyclohexene (3.47%) and β-bisabolene (2.76%). The antimicrobial activity witnessed a dose-dependent gradient extract–inhibitory relationship. The highest inhibitory activity was observed at 100 mg/ml for all the strains. There was no inhibition observed below 12.5 mg/ml for Escherichia coli and Fusarium spp. while Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtillis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Salmonella typhi, Candida albicanandKlebsiela pneumonia showed no inhibition below 6.25 mg/ml. The present study has established that the floral part of Costus lucanusianus has volatile constituents with antimicrobial potenc