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ABSTRACT
Acacia gourmaensis is a medicinal plant of the family of leguminosae mimosiodeae which is widely used in Africa especially Nigeria as a medicine and source of fiber. The aim of this study is to determine the phenolic composition of the stem bark extracts and its antioxidant properties. Preliminary phytochemical screening conducted showed that Acacia gourmaensis stem bark contained reducing sugars, saponins, flavonoids, phenolic, terpenoid and proteins. while alkaloids and anthraquinione derivative were absent. Proximate analysis showed that the stem bark had a high content of protein (10.47±0.57), moisture (15.50±0.69), crude fiber (20.03±0.15), ash (40.00±0.98), while lipid (05.50±0.5) and nitrogen free extract (08.50±0.09) were low. This simply indicates that the stem bark contains appreciable amount of minerals and crude fibre which could be included in diets to supplement nutrient needs. Since the crude extract of Acacia gourmaensis contains both polar and non-polar constituents, it was partitioned into three different fractions (ethyl acetate, n- hexane and methanol fractions) and the antioxidant capacity of each fraction was determined. Acute toxicity test carried out in this study showed that at a dose of 5000mg/kg of the extract, the plant was not toxic. The stem bark of acacia gourmaensis showed a very good antioxidant properties which are higher in the methanolic fraction than other fractions when compared with vitamin C. Phenolic composition carried out in this study showed that the stem bark of Acacia gourmeansis contains a total of 42 phenolic compounds which are higher in ethyl acetate fraction. It was observed that the antioxidant activity evaluated by 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazl (DPPH) assay, ferric reducing antioxidant power assay (FRAP) revealed a positive correlation with the total phenol and total flavonoid contents. The result from this present study indicates that Acacia gourmaensis stem bark extracts and fractions derived from its solvent extraction have a high content of phenolic compounds, contain an appreciable amount of nutrient (which could be included in diets to supplement our daily nutrient needs) has good antioxidant properties. In this study the plant bark has been proven to be safe and can therefore be used as a medicinal herbs for human diseases.
