TABLE OF CONTENTS
TITLE PAGE
CERTIFICATION
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT
CHAPTER ONE – INTRODUCTION
1.1
GENERAL INTRODUCTION ON A MEDICINAL PLANT
CHAPTER TWO – LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1
PLANT DESCRIPTION [SCIENTIFIC AND NATIVE NAME]
2.2
AFRICAN PEACH[NAUCLEA LATIFOLIA] AS A MEDICINAL PLANT
2.3
PHYTOCHEMICALS
2.4
SOXHLET EXTRACTION
CHAPTER THREE – MATERIALS AND METHODS
3.1
COLLECTION OF PLANT MATERIAL
3.2
PREPARATION AND MATERIALS USED FOR EXTRACTION
3.3
PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING
CHAPTER FOUR – RESULT AND DISCUSSION
CONCLUSION
REFERENCE
ABSTRACT
Methanolic extracts of leaves of the indigenous medicinal
plant Nauclea latifolia (Rubiaceae), commonly called the African peach, is a
plant widely used in folk medicine in different regions of Africa for treating
a variety of illnesses including malaria, jaundice, diarrhea, hypertension, and
tuberculosis treatment. Phytochemical screening of the different parts of the
plant confirmed the presence of metabolites like saponins, alkaloids,
glycosides, tannins, flavonoids and anthraquinones. Steroids were absent in all
plant parts. This invariably confirms the folkloric usage of the various plant
parts in the treatment of the listed diseases with careful selection of
extracting solvent.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Medicinal plants have been the
mainstay of traditional herbal medicine amongst rural dwellers worldwide since
antiquity to date. The therapeutic use of plants certainly goes back to the
Sumerian and the Akkadian civilizations in about the third millennium BC.
Hippocrates (ca. 460–377 BC), one of the ancient authors who described
medicinal natural products of plant and animal origins, listed approximately
400 different plant species for medicinal purposes. Natural products have been
an integral part of the ancient traditional medicine systems, e.g. Chinese,
Ayurvedic and Egyptian (Sarker & Nahar, 2007). Over the years they have
assumed a very central stage in modern civilization as natural source of
chemotherapy as well as amongst scientist in search for alternative sources of
drugs. About 3.4 billion people in the
developing world depend on plant-based traditional medicines. This represents
about 88 per cent of the world’s inhabitants, who rely mainly on traditional medicine
for their primary health care. According to the World Health Organization, a
medicinal plant is any plant which, in one or more of its organs, contains
substances that can be used for therapeutic purposes, or which are precursors
for chemo-pharmaceutical semi synthesis. Such a plant will have its parts
including leaves, roots, rhizomes, stems, barks, flowers, fruits, grains or
seeds, employed in the control or treatment of a disease condition and
therefore contains chemical components that are medically active. These
non-nutrient plant chemical compounds or bioactive components are often
referred to as phytochemicals (‘phyto-‘from Greek - phyto meaning ‘plant’) or
phytoconstituents and are responsible for protecting the plant against
microbial infections or infestations by pests (Abo et al., 1991; Liu, 2004;
Nweze et al., 2004; Doughari et al., 2009). The study of natural products on
the other hand is called phytochemistry. Phytochemicals have been isolated and
characterized from fruits such as grapes and apples, vegetables such as broccoli
and onion, spices such as turmeric, beverages such as green tea and red wine,
as well as many other sources (Doughari & Obidah, 2008; Doughari et al.,
2009).
The science of application of these
indigenous or local medicinal remedies including plants for treatment of
diseases is currently called ethno pharmacology but the practice dates back
since antiquity. Ethno pharmacology has been the mainstay of traditional
medicines theentire world and currently is being integrated into mainstream
medicine. Different catalogues including De Materia Medica, Historia Plantarum,
Species Plantarum have been variously published in attempt to provide
scientific information on the medicinal uses of plants. The types of plants and
methods of application vary from locality to locality with 80% of rural
dwellers relying on them as means of treating various diseases. For example,
the use of bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) and cranberry juice (Vaccinium
macrocarpon) to treat urinary tract infections is reported in different manuals
of phytotherapy, while species such as lemon balm (Melissa officinalis), garlic
(Allium sativum) and tee tree (Melaleuca alternifolia) are described as
broad-spectrum antimicrobial agents (Heinrich et al., 2004). A single plant may
be used for the treatment of various disease conditions depending on the
community. Several ailments including fever, asthma, constipation, esophageal
cancer and hypertension have been treated with traditional medicinal plants
(Cousins & Huffman, 2002; Saganuwan, 2010). The plants are applied in
different forms such as poultices, concoctions of different plant mixtures,
infusions as teas or tinctures or as component mixtures in porridges and soups
administered in different ways including oral, nasal (smoking, snoffing or steaming),
topical (lotions, oils or creams), bathing or rectal (enemas). Different plant
parts and components (roots, leaves, stem barks, flowers or their combinations,
essential oils) have been employed in the treatment of infectious pathologies
in the respiratory system, urinary tract, gastrointestinal and biliary systems,
as well as on the skin (Rojas et al., 2001; R´ıos & Recio, 2005;
Adekunle & Adekunle, 2009).
Medicinal plants are increasingly
gaining acceptance even among the literates in urban settlements, probably due
to the increasing inefficacy of many modern drugs used for the control of many
infections such as typhoid fever, gonorrhoea, and tuberculosis as well as
increase in resistance by several bacteria to various antibiotics and the
increasing cost of prescription drugs, for the maintenance of personal health
(Levy, 1998; Van den Bogaard et al., 2000; Smolinski et al., 2003).
Unfortunately, rapid explosion in human population has made it almost
impossible for modern health facilities to meet health demands all over the
world, thus putting more demands on the use of natural herbal health remedies.
Current problems associated with the use of antibiotics, increased prevalence
of multiple-drug resistant (MDR) strains of a number of pathogenic bacteria
such as methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Helicobacter pylori, and
MDR Klebsiela pneumonia has revived the interest in plants with antimicrobial
properties (Voravuthikunchai & Kitpipit, 2003). In addition, the increase
in cases of opportunistic infections and the advent of Acquired Immune
Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) patients and individuals on immunosuppressive
chemotherapy, toxicity of many antifungal and antiviral drugs has imposed
pressure on the scientific community and pharmaceutical companies to search
alternative and novel drug sources.
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