PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND NUTRIENT EVALUATION OF PAWPAW LEAVES EXTRACT
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PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND NUTRIENT EVALUATION OF PAWPAW LEAVES EXTRACT
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study, titled “Photochemical screening and nutrient evaluation of paw paw leaf extract,” is to assess the phytochemical screening and nutrient content of a methanolic extract of C. papaya. Methanol was used to extract the powdered C. papaya leaves.
The concentrated crude methanolic extract was then subjected to phytochemical screening. Phytochemical screening was used to identify glucose and secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, tannins, and saponins. Phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of glucose, tannin, and saponin.
The antibacterial properties of a methanolic solvent extract of Carica papaya leaf were tested against gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial strains, as well as fungus, using the zone of inhibition method. The antimicrobial test was performed using the disc diffusion method.
The test included gram-positive bacteria such as Staphylococcus saprophyticus, Streptococcus pyogenes, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus cereus, β-hemolytic streptococcus, and Bacillus megaterium
as well as gram-negative bacteria such as Escherichia coli, Shigella dysenteriae, Salmonella paratyphi, Shigella boydii, and fungi such as Asperllius niger and Candida albicans.
The crude methanolic extract of Carica papaya leaf demonstrated mild to moderate antibacterial activity against microorganisms at doses of 50 µg/disc, 100 µg/disc, and 150 µg/disc. However, no action was detected against Streptococcus pyogenes or Shigella boydii.
Chapter one
INTRODUCTION
1.1 herbs’ Role in Humans Medicinal herbs have historically been linked to cultural practices and traditional knowledge. The use of plant extracts in chronic illnesses for which conventional medications are thought to have very little specificity in their target has sparked a resurgence of interest in plant products (Rhiouani et al., 1999).
This has led to the usage of a wide number of medicinal plants with therapeutic capabilities to treat a variety of ailments (Verpoorte, 1998). Nearly 80% of the world’s population relies on traditional medicines for basic health care, the majority of which contain plant extracts (Akindele & Adeyemi, 2007).
The mindless reliance on synthetics has ended, and people are returning to naturals in search of safety and security. Furthermore, the emergence of side effects and strong microbiological resistance to chemically synthesised medications has led men into ethnopharmacognosy.
Furthermore, in our local scenario, a high level of ignorance and illiteracy has driven many people to reject or disregard pharmaceutically created treatments in favour of locally prepared herbal cures, exacerbated by the fact that pharmaceutical items are increasingly being counterfeited.
Thus, herbal products today represent safety in contrast to synthetics, which are regarded as harmful to humans and the environment (Joy et al. 2001).
Herbs are experiencing a “renaissance” worldwide, with people turning to natural remedies for safety and security. Overall, the public is increasingly accepting and using herbal treatments.
In Africa, traditional healers and plant-based treatments play a vital role in the health of millions of people. Users of these medicines discovered literally thousands of phytochemicals from plants as safe and generally effective alternatives with fewer side effects.
The Pharmacognosy Society of Nigeria advocates the use of herbal remedies or ethnomedicinal treatments in conjunction with the standard orthodox health care system (Ndukwe 2004).
This is largely owing to the fact that traditional medicine plants contain a diverse variety of chemicals capable of treating both chronic and infectious ailments (Duraipandiyan et al., 2006).
Biological entities, especially plants, produce two unique types of chemical compounds. The first class is primary metabolites, which are composed of substances found in most organisms and are required for proper metabolism. Secondary metabolites, on the other hand, are compounds that are unique to a particular species or group of organisms.
It wasn’t until the 1990s that scientists realised secondary metabolites were more than just byproducts of an organism’s metabolic processes. These molecules can be used as communication tools, defence mechanisms, or sensory devices.
The biological activity of these compounds benefits the organism that generates them, but it can be hazardous to other species, including humans (Swerdlow, 2000). This toxicity can have an unfavourable effect on the entire human body’s activities or just one biological process, such as cancer cell proliferation (Yoder, 2005).
Plants have also been shown to have various positive biological activities, including anticancer, antibacterial, antioxidant, antidiarrheal, analgesic, and wound healing properties. Certain foreign, naturally occurring compounds can act as potent medications when delivered at the appropriate concentration (Yoder, 2005).
Natural goods have a significant role in healthcare. They can serve as starting ingredients for semi-synthetic medicines. The most notable examples are plant steroids, which led to the development of oral contraceptives and other steroidal hormones.
Today, practically every pharmacological class of medicine incorporates a natural product or its analogue (Eba, 2005). Similarly, it is a good resource for discovering novel lead structures (Newman & Cragg, 2007).
It is estimated that 25% of all prescriptions issued in the United States contained plant extracts or active substances derived from plants. It is also estimated that 74% of the 119 most important pharmaceuticals today contain active components derived from plants used in traditional medicine for health care (Farnsworth et al., 1985); these traditional medicines are predominantly plant-based (De-Pascual-Teresa et al., 1996).
Another survey of the most commonly prescribed medications in the United States found that the majority contained either a natural product or had a natural product employed in their synthesis or design (Wakelin, 1986).
Similarly, around 121 medications given in the United States today are derived from natural sources, with 90 of them originating directly or indirectly from plant sources (Benowitz, 1996). Natural products or natural product mimics account for 47 percent of all anticancer medications on the market (Newman and Cragg, 2007).
Tropical and subtropical Africa include between 40,000 and 45,000 plant species with development potential, with 5,000 of them being used medicinally (Van Wyk, 2008). Despite its vast potential and diversity, Africa has only produced 83 of the world’s 1100 classic pharmaceuticals (Van Wyk, 2008).
Traditional medical systems have undoubtedly become a global hot topic. Even though modern medicine is available in many industrialised nations, people continue to use alternative or complementary therapies, such as medicinal herbs. However, few plant species that yield therapeutic herbs have been thoroughly tested for their potential medical applications (Adotey et al., 2012).
For millennia, herbs have been priced based on their medical and therapeutic properties, as well as their flavouring and fragrant attributes. Similarly, herbal medications are naturally rich in chemical components.
Traditional healers frequently suggest that certain natural or herbal products provide significant benefits. However, only a few plants, extracts, and active components, as well as preparations comprising them, have available safety and efficacy data (Adotey et al., 2012).
Plant extracts, whether pure chemicals or standardised extracts, give limitless prospects for novel drug discovery due to their unparalleled chemical diversity (Cosa et al., 2006).
However, chemists often discard the contents of any unlabelled bottle in the laboratory. In this approach, a good practicing chemist should avoid uncharacterized drugs, regardless of how successful they are (Ndukwe, 2004).
As a result, it is critical to identify and define the molecules responsible for the therapeutic impact. They are known as active constituents or principles.
Phytochemical screening is critical for identifying new sources of medicinal and industrially relevant substances such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, saponins, steroids, tannins, and terpenoids (Akindele & Adeyemi, 2007).
Isolation is also a type of natural product chemistry that allows for the separation of diverse components into physiologically active ones that can be used as ingredients in modern medicine.
Modern medicine has largely limited itself to the isolation or synthesis of a specific active ingredient for the treatment of spermic illness (Shoge, 2010). Chromatographic techniques are frequently utilised to separate, isolate, and purify chemical ingredients found in natural pharmaceuticals (Devi et al., 2012).
1.2 Objectives of the Research Study
The aim of this study was to evaluate the chemical and biological activity of Carica papaya.
leaves employing specific benchtop bioassays, such as antibacterial and antioxidant testing.
In addition to identifying phytomedicines, it may provide remedies to current ailments such as AIDS and certain malignancies.
Increased understanding of phytomedicines can:
Antibiotics (in the case of antibacterial drug resistance) and plant-based anticancer therapies, such as tubulin polymerisation inhibitors (which are less toxic than current anticancer drugs such as Actinomycin D), are examples of alternate remedies.
Provide man with the required knowledge to avoid or minimise undesired side effects from toxicities coming from the usage of herbs.
To assess plants’ exceptional ability to synthesise secondary metabolites:
Plants’ defence mechanisms are sophisticated, allowing them to live. They accomplish this with a vast array of secondary metabolites that they synthesise. Several types of thousands of secondary metabolites have previously been separated and their structures have been revealed.
The primary functions of secondary metabolites have been recognised as:
Defence against herbivores (insects, vertebrates)
Defence against fungus and bacteria.
Protection against viruses,
Defence against other plants vying for light, water, and nutrients.
Signal chemicals to attract pollinators and seed dispersers,
Plants use signals to communicate with symbiotic microorganisms, such as N-fixing Rhizobia or mycorrhizal fungi, and to protect themselves from UV light and physical stress. [Wink, 1999]
Medicinal herbs have played an important role in the evolution of human culture, including religion and other ceremonies. (For example, Dutura has long been associated with the worship of Shiva, the Indian deity).
A majority of cultures around the world employ plants directly as remedies, including Chinese and Indian medicine. Many food crops have therapeutic properties, such as garlic.
Scientific research on medicinal herbs shows their potential in today’s synthetic era, since many drugs become resistant.
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