DNA and HPLC Fingerprint of Commiphora africana (Burseraceae)

Abstract

Commiphora africana is a famous medicinal plant used traditionally in the treatment of various ailments such as inflammation, stomach disorders, diabetes, malaria, tumours, skin infections and as antidotes for venomous bites and stings in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. The present study aims to evaluate the molecular and chemical properties that could be of value in the standardization and quality assessment of the medicinal values of C. africana. The randomly amplified polymorphic deoxyribonucleic acidpolymerase chain reaction (RAPD-PCR) analysis was carried out on the leaf sample. The high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was carried out on the leaf and barks of stem and root extracts. The RAPD-PCR amplified products generated fingerprint patterns ranging from 250 to 1600 base pairs. The oligoprimers (A, B and E) produced distinct banding patterns for C. africana, the number of well-defined and major bands for a single primer ranged from 2 to 7 with maximum number of well-defined bands observed with primer "a" (7 bands) and the minimum number with primer "e" (2 bands). The HPLC chromatograms of the extracts of leaf and barks of stem and root of C. africana showed some similarities and differences in the type, number and concentration of the compounds in the various morphological parts of the plant. The DNA and HPLC fingerprints obtained from this research can be useful in the identification and authentication of C. Africana and thus may be useful in the standardization of this plant.