Abstract:
Parkia biglobosa popularly called African locust bean tree is used traditionally for the treatment of malaria. Phenolic compounds were found to be the major antimalarial components of Parkia biglobosa .The aim of this work is to evaluate the antiplasmodial activity and isolate phenolic compounds from Parkia biglobosa. The stem barks of Parkia biglobosa were extracted with methanol to obtain methanol extract. The extract was also subjected to column chromatography to obtain four fractions, these fractions were preliminary tested for antiplasmodial potency and methanol fraction which gave the most potent effect was fully evaluated and was refractionated to obtain the phenolic compounds. Phytochemical test, Thin layer chromatography (TLC), Infra-red (IR) spectroscopy and functional group tests were used to study the compounds. The compounds showed antimalarial activity against P.berghei and clinical isolate of P.falciparum. This study confirmed the presence of phenolic compounds in the stem extract of Parkia biglobosa, further research is needed to identify the chemical structures of the compounds from Parkia biglobosa and this may serve as new lead structure in the development of an antimalarial agent.
