South Asian Research Journal of Natural Products

This study highlights the use of plants as an important component of the health care system in Nigeria. Parts of Harungana madagascariences, one of the medicinally important plants commonly found in Nigeria, was phytochemically and chromatographically evaluated in the present work for the identification of various phytochemical compounds found in it. The phytochemical tests showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, steroids, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids and carbohydrates in extracts of H. madagascariences. Antibacterial activity of the plant extracts revealed that the ethyl acetate and methanol extracts showed some degree of inhibition of growth in Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi, Escherichia coli and Shigella sonnei. A total of twenty Seven (27) compounds were identified through spectrum matching with National Institute Standard and Technology (NIST) database in the methanol fraction of H. madgascariensis leaf extract by   GC-MS analysis. Compounds identified included 2-(2-hydroxy-2-phenylethoxy) phenol, n-hexadecanoic acid, 4-hydroxy-N_2­-(4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-5-hydroximinobenzofurazan-4-ylidino)-benzhydride, Nortricy-clanol, acetylmonoglyceride, 3-methyl-4- (phenlthio) – 2-prop-2-enyl-2,5-dihydrothiophere 1,-1-dioxide, Z,Z-2,6-dimethyl-3,5,7-octatriene-2-ol, Glycerol, 3-deoxy-d-mannonic acid, 10,13-dioxo-tricyclo (6:3:3:0) tetradec-4-ene and 3,4-altrosan. The presence of these compounds in the leaf methanol extract (LME) justifies the use of H. madagascariences as a good source of therapeutic agents for bacterial and fungal infections. Also, it is rich in compounds which possess anti-oxidant, anti-spermatogenic, anti-biotic and neuroprotective activity. H. madacascariences is found to be a pharmacologically important plant, hence, further isolation of individual phytochemical constituents and subjecting them to the biological activity will give more pharmaceutically valuable results.