ABSTRACT
Background: Many important drugs used in medicine today are directly or indirectly derived from plants and plant products. Medicinal plants have been explored for the treatment of numerous health problems since ancient times.
Objective: To determine the phytochemical constituents of the leaf of Chromolaena odorata, investigate the anti-diabetic activity and acute toxicity profile of its leaf extract.
Method: The powdered leaves (1000 g) were extracted with methanol (2.75 L) by maceration at room temperature for 7 days. The percentage yields of the extracts were calculated based on the amount of the methanol extracts. Phytochemical screening was done, the anti-diabetic activity was evaluated and acute toxicity profile was also evaluated using methods as described by Iwon et al., 2007 and Lorke method respectively.
Results: The phytochemical investigation of the leaf of Chromolaena odorata revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, reducing sugars, saponins, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and proteins. The percentage yield of its leaf was obtained as 10.535%. The anti-diabetic investigation showed that the leaf of Chromolaena odorata exhibited strong inhibition of α-amylase activity with IC50 value 603.96µg/mL and LD50 value 3807.89mg/kg body weight.
Conclusion: The presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, reducing sugars, saponins, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and proteins were detected in the leaves of Chromolaena odorata. The present study has also shown that the methanol extracts of the leaf exhibited anti-diabetic effect by inhibiting α-amylase activity and LD50 value3807.89 mg/kg body weight.
