In Vitro Phytochemistry and Antiplasmodial Activity of Leaf Extract and Fractions of Nauclea diderrichii

The current investigation deals with phytochemical screening and in vitro antiplasmodial activity of crude ethanol leaf extract and three fractions of crude ethanol leaf-extract of Nauclea diderrichii. Phytochemical test to screen bioactive compounds was carried out via standard protocols which uncovered the presence of alkaloids, saponins, steroids, phenols, tannins, flavonoids, glycosides and carbohydrates, extraction was done using absolute ethanol to afford the crude extract (Nd-ET) while maceration was done using solvents of different polarity gradient (petroleum ether, chloroform and ethyl acetate) to afford the remaining fractions (Nd-F1, Nd-F2 and Nd-F3). The antiplasmodial activity of the crude-extract and those of crude-extract-fractions against plasmodium falciparum unveil promising percentage elimination at all concentrations, with ethanol crude extract (Nd-ET) and ethyl acetate fraction (Nd-F3) having the highest, with 75.50% and 72.65% at 625µg/ml, and 87.83% and 86.33% at 5000µg/ml, respectively. These results clearly indicated that the active compounds present in the crude leaf extract/fractions of Nauclea diderrichii are highly potent eliminators of plasmodium falciparum and validate their popular usage in folk medicine in Gusau Local Government, Zamfara State, Nigeria, for the treatment of malaria.