Comparative evaluation of phytochemical composition of leaf, root and stem of copper leaf (<i>Acalypha wikesiana</i>) mull. Arg. plant in Kaduna Northern Guinea Savanna Ecological Zone, Zaria – Kaduna, Nigeria

Abstract

Comparative Analysis of Chemical composition of leaf, Root, and Stem of Copper leaf (Acalypha wilkesiana) plants in Zaria eco-zone of Kaduna state was studied. The roots, leaves, and stem samples were randomly collected from Ahmadu Bello University and her environs.  They were identified at the herbarium of Savannah Forestry Research station and Department of Botany Ahmadu Bello University Zaria  Kaduna. The sampled were air dried in the laboratory at a room temperature. The dried sampled was chopped into pieces and ground  separately to powder using blender. The powdered samples were labelled and store in small plastic air tight container which were then  taken for analysis. The data obtained from the laboratory was analyzed using two ways analysis of variance (ANOVA) using GLM  procedure of SAS. The results show the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, tannin, phytate and Oxalate in various concentrations  as there were significant differences(P<0.05) between these phytochemicals and the plant parts. It is evident that the iconic Copper leaf  (Acalypha wilkesiana) plant is an important medicinal resource used to treat and prevent a range of health challenges. The reasons been  the presence of high level of active phytochemical compositions found in the plant’s parts. In Nigeria, however, the plant gained little  attention because of its ornamental nature. However, it is recommended that due to increase interest in the medicinal values and  utilization of the copper plant, there is a need to create awareness about its conservation and further research should be carried out for  its other uses.