Characterization Of A Saharan Medicinal Plant: Adansonia Digitata (Bombacaceae): A Qualitative And Quantitative Study

Abstract

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the study of medicinal plants and their traditional use in
different parts of the world. Adansonia Digitata; known as the African baobab, is a medicinal plant of the
Bombaceae family, widely used in traditional Saharan medicine and as a food condiment. The decoction of the
pulp of the Baobab fruit is used as an antidiarrheal. The leaves are recommended to treat the aftermath of
indigestion and to soothe stomach aches. As part of an effort to make the most of natural resources, organic
extracts from different edible parts of this plant (leaves, fruit and seeds) were prepared by successive maceration
in dichloromethane and methanol. The qualitative characterization, carried out by thin-layer chromatography
(TLC) was able to reveal the presence of different phenolic molecules with diversified retention factors (Rf).
Quantitative estimation of its phenolic compounds, namely total polyphenols, flavonoids and condensed tannins,
was carried out by colorimetric methods (ultra violet spectrophotometry) using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent,
aluminum chloride and vanillin respectively. The results obtained effectively confirmed the richness of the
extracts in these compounds. The evaluation of the antioxidant power, carried out using the DPPH free radical
scavenging method, indicated that the various methanolic extracts have a very good antioxidant activity. The
quantitative determination of ascorbic acid in different parts of the plant under study was carried out by high
performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and has revealed the presence of this vitamin solely and in a very
abounding manner in the fruit pulp with a concentration of 1206.246 mg / l.