Bioactive potentialities of Grewia flavescens root extract in the treatment of alcohol dependence: Preliminary phytochemical study

Abstract

Although the use of plants for medicinal purposes is an ancient practice, there is a perception that in the field of chemical dependency, its role has been and is little studied. With regard to alcohol dependence, the third leading cause of hospitalization in psychiatric hospitals in Mozambique, an ethnobotanical work was carried out in 2018 in the Municipality of Massinga, province of Inhambane, with the aim of identifying with practitioners of traditional medicine, the plants they use in their treatment, having resulted, among other plants, in the identification of Grewia flavescens, from which the need arose, based on phytochemical prospecting and literary framework support, to carry out a study of a preliminary nature on the bioactive potential of the root extract (part indicated in the survey) of Grewia flavescens in the treatment of alcohol dependence. The results showed the presence of Flavonoids, Tannins, Alkaloids, Triterpenoids and Saponins. About this group of bioactives, there is bibliographical evidence that points to the anxiolytic and anti-depressant action of Flavonoids, Saponins and Alkaloids, allowing to infer that these can act as mood stabilizers in patients in the phase of alcohol withdrawal syndrome and craving during treatment, not despite deepening from preclinical studies.