Phytochemical Screening and Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR) Analysis of <I>Vernonia amygdalina </I>Del. (Bitter leaf) Methanol Leaf Extract

Abstract

Vernonia amygdalina is a tropical African plant of the Asteraceae family and is occasionally cultivated for its medicinal uses, which include treatment of diarrhea, skin wounds, fever mastitis and worms infection. The aim of this study is to test for the phytochemical constituents and FT-IR analysis of the leaf extract of V. amygdalina. The result of qualitative phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of important metabolites such as saponin, alkaloid, tannin, phenol, flavonoid, glycoside and terpenoids. The present FT-IR results confirmed the presence of alkanes, alkenes, amines, carboxylic acids and alcohols on the basis of identification of functional groups of OH, C-H and C=O which signifies the presence of these compounds in the methanol extracts of V. amygdalina.

Keywords: Vernonia amygdalina, Phytochemicals, FT-IR Analysis, Methanol Leaf Extract