Phytochemical analysis and selected biological activity of Phyllanthus parvulus Sond. var garipensis

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Date
2009
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Abstract
From the huge family of Euphobiceae stems a large Phyllanthus genus. The Phyllanthus genus has about 800 species world wide of which about 22 species are native to Southern Africa. A number of the Phyllanthus species have been reported to have history hi herbal medicine systems, and studies have been done to support their use. Stemming from the South African species is Phyllanthus parvulus Sond. var garipensis, a shrub that is known botanicaUy but, its medicinal potentials are unknown. This project focuses on the chemical and biological properties of Phyllanthus parvulus Sond. var garipensis. The phytochemical study reveals that the plant possesses some secondary metabolites namely: alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, tannins and antraquinones. A compound lanosterol-amide linked glycoside was isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction. The hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol, ethanol and water extract were tested for antibacterial and antioxidant activities. All the plant extracts showed activity with chloroform extract exhibiting high activity against the reference strains used. It exhibited high sensitivity greater than the standard compound ampicillin. The n-hexane and water extract had the least activities, while in the antioxidant studies the methanol and ethanol extract were the most active. The toxicity of the extract was tested using the brine shrimp lethal test and was found not to be toxic after 12hours since less than 70% of the brime shrimps were still alive.
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Submitted to the Faculty of Science and Agriculture, in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree of Master of Science in the Department of Chemistry, at the University of Zululand, 2009.
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Phytochemical analysis
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