PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, PROXIMATE AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY FLAME IONIZATION DETECTOR (GC-FID) IDENTIFICATION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT OF AZADIRACHTA INDICA LEAVES.

Abstract

Azadirachta indica, commonly known as neem is one of the most promising medicinal plants having a wide spectrum of biological activities. This study was aimed at screening the phytochemical and identification of the bioactive constituents of the ethanolic extract of neem leaves. About 1kg of fresh matured leaves was collected, washed and dried for one week and pulverized into a fine powder using an electric blender. Using ethanol as the solvent, Soxhlet extraction method was employed to extract the bioactive ingredients and concentrated using rotary evaporator. The vitamins, proximate parameters and phytochemical screenings were determined following standard methods. The minerals were done using Atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The bioactive compounds were analyzed using GC-FID techniques. The macro mineral contents were; Na (18.87 ± 0.01 ppm), Ca (6.03 ± 0.00 ppm) and P (10.45 ± 0.02 mg/kg), while vitamins (mg/100g) were 6.78 ± 0.01, 10.08 ± 0.07, 4.67 ± 0.04 for B, C and carotenoid, respectively. The proximate compositions (%) were; fat (12.50 ± 0.02), protein (29.00 ± 0.10) etc. The phytoextract revealed moderate level of all the bioactive compounds including alkaloid, saponin, etc., except glycoside which was high. The GC-FID analysis revealed the presence of twelve (12) constituents: resveratrol, catechin, ribalinidine, flavanones, flavan-3-ol, flavones, aglycone, lunamarin, gallocatechin, isoflavonoids and kaempferol. The significant presence of these compounds suggest that neem leaf may hold promise in traditional and contemporary medicinal practices.