Preliminary Phytochemical Screening of Fresh and Dried <i>Moringa oleifera</i> Leaves and that of Chloroform, Ethylacetate and n-Butanol Fractions

Abstract

The preliminary phytochemical screening of the crude aqueous extract of fresh and dried Moringa oleifera leaves, of the organic solvent and residual fractions of the extract was carried out according to the standard methods. Chemical constituents of the crude aqueous extract of the fresh leaves were found to be tannins, saponins, carbohydrates, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids, steroids and terpenes. The crude aqueous extract of the dried leaves contain the same chemical components like that of the fresh leaves except for the absence of steroids and terpenes. Based on the organic solvent extract analysis, the chloroform portion of the extract contains saponins, carbohydrate, flavonoid, cardiac glycosides and alkaloids. The ethyl acetate fraction contains similar chemical constituents and in addtion tannins. Also the n-butanol fraction of the extract contains tannins, saponin, carbohydrate, flavonoid, and alkaloid. The residual aqueous fraction of the extract contained tannins, carbohydrate, flavonoid,

and phlobatannin. Anthraquinones were completely absent from the analysis of Moringa oleifera leaf extracts. The observed chemical constituents have been discussed in relation to the acclaimed medicinal properties of the plant.

Key words: Phytochemistry, crude aqueous extract, organic solvent fractions, Moringa oleifera leaves