PHYTOCHEMICAL, ANTIOXIDANT AND GC-MS ANALYSIS OF Vernonia colorata (WILLD) DRAKE LEAF EXTRACT

Abstract

Medicinal plants play an important role in the prevention of various diseases and are used for discovery and also to screen the phytochemical constituents which are very helpful for the manufacturing of new drugs. Vernonia coloratais a herb used by the indigenous people of Nupe land to cure ailments such as malaria but this has not been scientifically proven. The phytochemical and antioxidant evaluation of V. colorata alongside GC-MS analysis were carried out using standard methods. Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Properties (FRAP) and Total Phenolic Content assays were used to determine the antioxidant properties. Purified fractions of V. colorata was analysed for phyto-constituents using GC-MS. Qualitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins, tannins, flavonoids, steroids, anthraquinone glycosides, phenols and absence of resins. While quantitative analysis showed the presence of alkaloid (296±9.17 mg/100g), saponin (113±0.31 mg/100g), flavonoid (6.09±0.66 mg/100g) and tannins (1.07±0.39 mg/100g) respectively, with alkaloids and saponins having higher concentrations. The antioxidant evaluation of the leaf extract of V. colorata showed concentration dependent absorbance which was observed to be beyond detection limit at a concentration higher than 1.0 mg/ml of standard equivalent for both the ferric reducing power and phenolic property methods. The results from the present analysis thus justify the use of V. colorata by the local Nupe communities for treatment of various ailments.