<i>In vitro</i> activity of methanol extracts of root of <i>Sarcocephalus latifolius</i> (African peach) on <i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the in vitro effect of crude methanol extracts of root of Sarcocephallus latifolius (SL) on Plasmodium falciparum. Powdered root of Sarcocephallus latifolius was subjected to cold maceration using 99.8% methanol. The crude extract was sequentially fractionated using four solvents of increasing polarity. P. falciparum field isolate was cultivated in vitro using the Trager and Jensen Candle jar method. The plant extracts were tested against the ring staged synchronous P. falciparum field isolates by incubation in 96-well micro titre plate for 48 h. Preliminary Phytochemical screening of the crude methanol plant extracts revealed the presence of Saponins, Tannins, Flavonoids, Alkaloids, Anthraquinone and cardiac glycosides Results also showed that Sarcocephalus latifolius extracts have moderate activity when against P. falciparum with its crude methanol extract having IC₅₀ of 14.78 μg/mL, chloroform fraction with 19.95 μg/mL, Benzene fraction with IC50 of 33.00 μg/mL and ethylacetate fraction with IC₅₀ of 49 μg/mL. the Aqueous fraction had the lowest antiplasmodial activity with IC50 of 72 μg/mL. Statistical analysis reveals increasing activity with increasing concentration which shows significant antiplasmodial activity at P value ≤ 0.01. The findings in this studies have shown that the crude methanol extracts of SL and its fractions have moderate activity on the cultured field isolate of Plasmodium falciparum, Therefore the findings in this research will serve as a stepping stone to avert some of the challenges posed by parasite resistance to the existing antimalarial drugs.