Phytochemical Constituents of Sap, Root and Leaf Extracts of Calotropis Procera from Select Regions in the Gambia

Medicinal plants serve as potential cure for animal and human diseases as they contain phytochemicals for therapeutic values. Most of the modern drugs produced are isolated from herbal plants. This research reports on the phytochemical constituents of the methanolic and dichloromethane (DCM) extracts of the sap, root and leaf of Calotropis procera in three select regions in The Gambia namely the West Coast Region, North Bank Region, and Lower River Region. The sap was collected in an air-tight test tube; the root and leaf were dried at room temperature for three weeks and one month, respectively and further ground into powder. Soxhlet extraction of the sap was done using both DCM for 30 minutes at 40oC to 50oC and methanol for 3 h at 60oC to 70oC. The root and leaf were extracted using cold maceration for 72 h. The methanolic extracts showed the presence of alkaloids, quinones, saponins, flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, and carbohydrates in the sap and leaf. Quinones were present in the DCM extract of the sap and root, but absent in the leaf. While flavonoids and terpenoids were present in the sap and leaf extracts, they were absent in the root. Alkaloids, saponins, and steroids were absent in the sap and root extracts, but found in the leaf. Tannins and phenols were absent in both the methanolic and DCM extracts. The results of each of the samples collected at the three different regions were similar in their phytochemical constituents for the extracting solvents; but varied with the different solvent. The findings of this research allude to the fact that the sap, root and leaf of C. procera are good sources of therapeutic compounds that are responsible for the use of this plant in herbal medicine in The Gambia.