Chemical constituents of leaves of Senna singueana (Del.) lock

Abstract

We report the preliminary phytochemical screening and GC-MS analysis of leaves of Senna singueana (Del.) Lock. This plant is endemic to East and West Africa, in particular Ethiopia and Cote D’Ivoire. The dry powdered leaf of Senna singueana was extracted with ethanol to give the crude extract. The chemical constituents of the crude extracts of the leaves of Senna singueana (Del.) Lock collected from Kashere, Gombe State – Nigeria were analyzed using GCMS spectrometry and preliminary phytochemical screening. The mass spectra of the constituents present in the extracts were interpreted by the comparison with data library of the National Institute of Standard and Technology (NIST) having over 62,000 patterns. The GCMS results indicated the presence of eighteen compounds including, 3-tridecane, 1,3-benzenediol, 3-O-methyl-D-glucose, (Z)-13-docosenoic acid, Z-7-tetradecanal and 2,6-dimethyl-1,7-octadien-3-ol which are in good agreement with the results of the phytochemical investigation of the ethanolic extract of the leaves, indicating the presence of steroids, alkaloids, saponins, phenols and reducing sugars. The presence of these phytoconstituents may be responsible for the pharmacological properties of Senna singueana as they are recommended as a plant of phytotherapeutically significant.