Abstract

Euphorbia ingens is a woody, succulent tree with ethnomedicinal applications; however, its chemical constituents are not well documented. This study determined the phytochemical profile of Euphorbia ingens dichloromethane-methanol root bark extract. Following sample collection and preparation, extraction was done using the cold percolation technique. This was followed by qualitative phytochemical screening and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. This study reports relative high abundance of phenols, tannins and saponins with moderate and low levels of flavonoids and terpenoids respectively in E. ingens dichloromethane-methanol root bark extract. However, alkaloids, quinones and sterols were not identified in this study. Additionally, 14 phytocompounds were identified through GC-MS analysis, including undecane; copaene; 3,4-altrosan; 9, 12, 15-octadecatrienoic acid; hexadecanoic acid; 1,2-benzenedicarboxylic acid; lanosterol; androst-2-en-17-one; lanosterol; 2-Bornanol; octadecanoic acid; squalene; 6-Pentylidene-4,5-secoandrostane-4,17.beta.-diol, and ethyl trans-4a, cis-4b, trans-8a, cis-10a-perhydro-trans-2,4a,8a-trimethyl-8-oxophenanthrene-2-carbothiolate. These phytocompounds have been documented to have diverse pharmacological activities from antimicrobial, antioxidant, anticancer, hypercholesterolemic and anti-inflammatory activities. Therefore, it was assumed in this study that these phytocompounds could be responsible for documented E. ingens pharmacological activities. Thus, the results of this study could support to some extent the ethnomedical uses of E. ingens. However, further biological investigations to validate the reported ethnobotanical uses of E. ingens are required.

Key words: Euphorbia ingens, phytocompounds, ethnomedical, pharmacological potential, biological activity.