Phytochemical Screening of Moringa oleifera Leaf Extracts under Different Solvents

Onuoha Stanley Obialo*, Ajani Emmanuel Kolawole and Jenyo-Oni Adetola

The rich nutrients and essential phytochemical compositions in the Moringa plant make it suitable and useful as a phytogenic feed additive to optimize feed efficiency and boost growth and reproduction in humans and animals. Various metabolites and bio-active ingredients contained in the leaves of Moringa oleifera have pharmacological, therapeutic, and physiological values in humans and livestock including fish. This study was intended to investigate the effect of different solvents of extractions on the quantity (yield) and quality (presence) of various phytochemicals in Moringa oleifera leaf extracts. Moringa leaves were identified, authenticated, processed, and pulverized following standard procedures. The powdered materials were subjected to a cold extraction method using four solvents: Aqueous, Ethanol, Methanol, and diethyl ether while phytochemical screening was done to determine the yield of the bio-active compounds using UV spectrophotometry and gravimetric methods. Standard qualitative and quantitative tests were conducted to evaluate flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, tannin, phenol, Coumarin, Terpenoid, Cardiac Glycosides, Quinones, Anthraquinone, and Lignin. Phytochemical investigation of Moringa oleifera leaf extracts depicted rich quality and quantity of bioactive compounds including hormonally active phytochemicals such as flavonoids, and saponins which can boost growth and reproduction in animals. The values of Saponin, Flavonoid and phenol ranges respectively across the solvents as follows: Diethyl-ether: 0.94 ± 0.01, 2.16 ± 0.00, 2.78 ± 0.02, Ethanol: 2.24 ± 0.02, 5.36 ± 0.00, 4.76 ± 0.00, Methanol: 2.78 ± 0.02b, 5.02 ± 0.00,4.57 ± 0.02 and aqueous: 4.11 ± 0.01, 6.27 ± 0.01, 4.91 ± 0.00. There was a significant influence (P < 0.05) of the extraction solvent on all the phytochemical content of the Moringa oleifera leaves analyzed. Aqueous extractions gave the best phytochemical retention in the extracts - Flavonoid (6.27 ± 0.01 mg/g), Phenol (4.91 ± 0.00 mg/g), Saponin (4.11 ± 0.01%), Alkaloid (3.90 ± 0.02%) and Tannin (2.45 ± 0.04 mg/g). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA at α0.05. The study illustrated that the use of a combination of polar and nonpolar solvents increased the extraction efficiency of phytochemicals in terms of yield; different solvents gave varied quantification of phytochemicals in Moringa oleifera leave extract. The highly polar aqueous, ethanolic, and methanolic extraction methods performed better than the non-polar diethyl ether in terms of the content yield, activity, and retention of bioactive compounds. Thus the extract can be applied in the diets of fish to boost growth and reproductive performance under varying inclusion levels.

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Published on: Dec 31, 2024 Pages: 66-72

Full Text PDF Full Text HTML DOI: 10.17352/2455-8400.000096
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