Phytochemical Investigation and Characterization on the Leaf Extract of Prunus africana

Prunus africana (P. africana) is a geographically wide spread tree to forest habitats of the African continent. P. africana is one of the most popular plant in traditional medicine for threatening various ailments. It is mainly is used to treat benign prostate hyperplasia (BHP). The study aimed at phytochemical investigation and characterization on the leaves extract of P. africana. The air dried and powdered plant material (155 g) was first soaked with 500 ml n-hexane for 72 hours and yielded 1.3 g of n-hexane extract. Residue was soaked with 400 ml of ethyl acetate for 72 hours and afforded 1.8 g of ethyl acetate extract. Finally, residue was soaked with 400 ml of methanol and yielded 12.6 g of methanol extract. The ethyl acetate extract of the leaves of P. africana afforded a compound coded as CM whose structural determination was accomplished by means of spectroscopic techniques. The compound, CM was isolated and characterized from the leaves of P. africana. It was shown that spot on TLC only up on spraying 1% vanillin sulphuric acid and after heating for a few minutes. Generally, chromatographic techniques like PTLC and HPLC are required to isolate more compounds from leaves of P. africana. Also MS and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques are needed to fully characterize the isolated compound.