Cholinesterase Inhibition, Biological Activity and Characterization of Chrysophyllum albidum Leaf and Stem-Bark Chloroform Extract Using GC-MS: An In Vitro Study

Benjamin O. Ezema¹, Kingsley O. Omeje¹*, Juliet N. Ozioko¹, Dilibe C. Urama², Henry C. Omeje³*, Anthony Nnawulezi¹, Adaku Ejim¹

¹Department of Biochemistry, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

²Department of Plant Science and Biotechnology, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

³Department of Biochemistry, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria

Corresponding Author: kingsley.omeje@unn.edu.ng; Tel: +2347030436813

Recieved Date: September 09, 2020; Accepted Date: February 03, 2021; Published Date: 03 February 2021

Citation: Ezema BO, Omeje KO, Ozioko JN, Urama DC, Omeje HC, Nnawelezi A, Ejim A. Cholinesterase Inhibition, Biological Activity and Characterization of Chrysophyllum albidum Leaf and Stem-Bark Chloroform Extract Using GC-MS: An In Vitro Study. Trop J Nat Prod Res. 2021; 5(1):130-134.  https://doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v5i1.18

Copyright: © 2021Omeje et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

ABSTRACT

Chrysophyllum albidum is a perennial plant of enormous importance including pharmacological or medicinal potentials. The study was aimed at evaluating the cholinesterase inhibition and biological activity of Chrysophyllum albidum leaf and stem-bark chloroform extract. The biological activities (qualitative, quantitative) were carried out using standard methods. Antioxidant ability of the extracts was assessed using 2, 2-diphenylpicryl-1-hydrazyl (DPPH). The total flavonoids and phenolic contents were expressed as quercetin (QEq) and gallic acids equivalent (GAEq) respectively. Flavonoids, tannins, steroids and saponnins were detected in C. albidum leaf extract, while flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, saponnins, cardiacglycosides and resins were detected in the stem-bark extract. 0.588 and 1.544 mg/QEq were total flavonoids content; 4.448 and 4.536 mg/GAEq were total phenolic content for leaf and stem-bark extracts respectively, the alkaloid content recorded was 1.490 and 3.86% respectively. Total tannins content quantified was 2.39 and 4.08 g/TAEq for the leaf and stem-bark extracts. The plant extracts exhibited in vitro antioxidant property by scavenging free radicals generated by DPPH. The leaf extract showed 90% of acetylcholinesterase and butylrylcholinesterase inhibition, with the stem-bark extract showing high acetylcholinesterase inhibition. The extracts are rich in volatile compounds as shown by GC/MS spectra of the stem-bark (9-octadecynoic acid methyl ester, 13-Docosenoic acid, erucic acid and squalene). The leaf extract shows Cyclopropaneoctanal, 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid, Oleic acid, Hexadecanoic acid, 9-Tetradecanal and 9-Octadecenoic acid. The C. albidum leaf extract GC/MS spectra showed 54.03% fatty acids with 22.93% hexadecanoic acid, while the stem-bark extract of C. albidum contained 50.85% of fatty acid comprising mainly of 9-octadecynoic acid.