Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate some chemical constituents of the leaf and stem bark of Senna siamea. Standard methods were used in all the analysis. Preliminary phytochemical screening indicated the presence of flavonoids, tannins, polyphenols, anthraquinones, saponins, and glycosides. Quantitative study of some phytoconstituents showed a significant difference of (p < 0.05) between the leaf contents and that of the stem bark with the exception of tannins. The results of elemental analysis revealed that the levels of potassium (K), sodium (Na), magnesium (Mg) and manganese (Mn) differed significantly (p < 0.05) when leaf contents were compared with that of the stem bark, while nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr), iron (Fe) and copper (Cu) contents were not statistically (p < 0.05) different. This result indicated that S. siamea has great potentials as it contains active pharmaceutical ingredients.

Key words: Senna siamea, phytochemicals, elemental compositions.