Mineral and Phytochemical Composition of Cleome Gynandra Methanolic Extract

Abstract

The study was done to evaluate the mineral and phytochemical composition of the methanolic extract of Cleome gynandra (spider plant). The plant is used as a traditional vegetable in some communities in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The plant has also been reported to have some medicinal effect due to presence of phytochemicals but its pharmacological and phytochemical profile has not been fully established. Collection and authentication of the plant was done followed by extraction using methanol as a solvent. The phytochemical investigation was done using both chemical analysis and chromatography method by use of a Gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GCMS) system as per standard protocol. Cleome gynandra was found to contain some mineral compounds of nutritional importance and phytochemicals with potential medicinal importance. The phytochemicals analyzed include saponins, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, terpanoids and polyphenols. These different phytochemicals can be further studied and their potential medicinal importance analyzed. The study concluded that Cleome gynandra contains phytochemicals with potentially important medicinal value. The plant (Cleome gynandra) can also be used as an important nutritional source of some essential nutrients like Vitamin C and beta carotene. It can also be a good source of some mineral elements like iron, selenium, cobalt, copper, zinc and manganese. This can be important for families in rural areas and for the low-income households in both rural and urban areas as a source of nutrients.

Biological Characterization of Cleome felina L.f. Extracts for Phytochemical, Antimicrobial, and Hepatoprotective Activities in Wister Albino Rats

“…The presence of bioactive compounds in the different parts of C. felina contributes to the therapeutic values of the plants in the treatment of diseases. In contrast to this, previously, several Cleome species were studied for the existence of phytochemical compounds in C. spinosa leaves and root extracts of cyclohexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and methanolic solvents [22]; C. rutidosperma leaves to water and ethanolic extracts [23], C. gynandra methanolic leaves extract [24], and C. arabica whole-plant aqueous-methanol, butanol, and water extracts [25], and it was reported the presence of flavonoids, saponins, terpenoids, anthraquinones, cardiac glycosides, tannins, carbohydrates, amino acids, proteins, polyphenols, reducing sugars, and alkaloids. The early preliminary findings reported by Silva et al [22] and Alkhatib et al [25] have determined that among comparative analyses between the different solvent extracts, the methanolic extract exhibited stronger positivity towards active phytochemical constitution than the other selective solvents during their studies.…”