Evaluation of Anti-tussive Activity and Phytochemical Screening of Stem of White Yam (Dioscorea rotundata) Grown in Oghe Community, Enugu State, Nigeria

Subscribe to access this work and thousands more

Dioscorea rotundata plant stem is an oral paste used for controlling persistence cough and hiccups in Oghe Traditional medical practices. In order to ascertain the extent of activity around its medicinal use, the anti-tussive activity and phytochemical screening of D. rotundata stem extracts were evaluated. The anti-tussive activity was studied on guinea pigs dosed with citric acid fumes. Phytochemical studies using simple chemical tests and TLC analysis were carried out on the stem extracts. The results of anti-tussive activity of the extracts revealed that activity in the ethyl acetate extracts increases with increase in concentration of the citric acid (24.21, 45.23, 50.35 and 67.69% for 25, 50, 75 and 100 mg concentration respectively) but there was no significant activity for the n-hexane and methanol extracts. Phytochemical studies confirm the presence of saponins, steroids, triterpenoids, glycosides, tannins, resins and volatile
oils. Results of the TLC analysis indicate 4 and 5 spots for n-hexane and ethyl acetate extracts using n-hexane: ethyl acetate 3:1 and 3:2 solvent systems respectively. D. rotundata stem extracts are important and valuable phytoconstituents that support the plant use in controlling persistence cough.

Subscribe to access this work and thousands more