Authors : Farida Moraa Okioga; Mathew P. Ngugi; Huxley Mae Makonde

Volume/Issue : Volume 8 - 2023, Issue 9 - September

Google Scholar : https://bit.ly/3TmGbDi

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/4f5yuk4d

DOI : https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8337945

Abstract : Piliostigma thonningii (Schum.) commonly referred to as monkey bread belongs to Fabaceae family and is used in the tropics for medicinal and nutritional uses. The plant is utilized for management of human ailments among them rheumatism, malaria, fever, snake bites and dysentery. It is widely acknowledged that plant pharmacological activities are driven by their secondary metabolites. Identification of the metabolites has led to drug discovery and leads for designing of novel compounds to enhance human health. Though P. thonningii is endowed with numerous bioactivities, there is minimal literature detailing the phytochemicals responsible for its therapeutic efficacies. For that reason, the present embarked on quantitative phytochemical characterization of DCM stem bark extract of P. thonningii. The analysis was carried out using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results showed that the extract contained various classes of phytocompounds including flavonoids, phenolics, phytosterols and fatty acids. The most abundant compounds found in the extract were oleic acid and squalene whereas valencene and α-cedrene were the least concentrated. The compound identified in the extract have been reported to possess numerous pharmacological efficacies such as analgesic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antidiabetic activities. Thus, the promising therapeutic potential of P. thonningii is attributed to these phytocompounds. The study recommends further research to isolate and purify the activity ingredient from P. thonningii as well as determine their mechanism of action.

Keywords : P. thonningii, Phytochemicals, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.