Phytochemical study of some plants commonly used as herbal remedies in southern Nigeria

Distributions of crude alkaloids, tannin, saponin, anthraquinone, flavoloid and cardiac glycosides in seven medicinal plants belonging to different families were investigated. The plants were Ocimum gratissimum, Cymbopogon citratus, Senna alata, Senna occidentalis, Curcuma longa, Chromolaena odorata and Calotropis procera. All the plants contained tannin, flavonoids and alkaloids except in Calotropis procera where alkaloid was found to be absent. Anthraquinone was only discovered in Curcuma longa but absent in others. Saponin was found in all the plants except in Cymbopogon citratus and Curcuma longa. Cardiac glycoside was absent in Ocimum gratissimum, Senna alata, Senna occidentalis and Calotropis procera but found in the remaining plants. The significance of these plants in traditional medicine in Southern Nigeria and the importance of the distribution of these chemical constituents in the plants were discussed vis-a-vis ethno medicinal practice in Southern Nigeria.