Phytochemical composition and biological investigation of Trichilia emetica Vahl. seed extracts

Abstract

The current study investigated the phytochemical analysis, chemical composition, antioxidant, cytotoxic and antifungal activity of Trichilia emetica seed extracts. Preliminary phytochemical screening and quantification were realized by GC-MS. Consecutive extractions (methanol, ethanol, ethyl acetate, hexane, chloroform and distilled water) were carried out and phytochemical tests performed to represent the variety of phytochemicals. Seed extracts variably displayed alkaloids, cardiac glycosides, phenols, sterols, terpenoids and flavonoids but there was no indication of saponins and tannins in all extracts. The biological investigation of the methanolic extract showed significant biological activities. The results obtained revealed that methanol extract has presented significant IC50 =5.94 µg/mL radical scavenging activity. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of hexane and chloroform fractions displayed antifungal activity (40.95-100 and 76.27-100.11, respectively) against all three fungal pathogens, whilst the methanol extract inhibited C. krusei and C. parapsilosis and the ethyl acetate inhibited C. parapsilosis only. The results obtained revealed the medicinal importance of the plant and methanol extract of T. emetica would aid researchers to exploit as potential antifungal and antioxidant agent.</jats:p>