Comparative phytochemical analysis of four medicinal plants traditionally used for malaria therapy in Nigeria

Nature provides us not just with food in abundance, but also with medicines, such that we could eat our food as medicine. Herbs are becoming more prominent as medicine because synthetic drugs with all their side effects are not completely safe. Herbs are however safer, as they are taken first as food, and in addition have qualities that are medicinal. The medicinal value of a plant lies in the bioactive phytochemical constituents of the plant. Among the most important of these bioactive phytochemicals are alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, phenolics, saponins and cyanogenic glycosides. Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis of four known anti-malarial plants was carried out on some phytochemical parameters of their leaves, namely- Cymbopogon citratus, Carica papaya, Azadirachta indica and Ocimum gratissimum. C. papaya gave the highest values for alkaloids (64.8 mg/g) and flavonoids (104.6 mg/g), followed by A. indica, which also gave the highest value for saponins (82 mg/g) and cyanogenic glycosides (14 mg/g). All the plant samples analyzed contained all five of the secondary metabolites in varying quantities, hence they are used in combination as herbal therapy for malaria. Alkaloid which was present in all four plants is known for its anti-malarial ability to suppress Plasmodium, and same with the other phytochemicals analyzed. The presence of these phytochemicals prove that these plants have great medicinal values and have commercial potential in the pharmaceutical industry. The comparative analysis of the phytochemicals in these plants helps one to combine them in the right way for best therapeutic results based on knowledge of their constituents.