Phytochemical and In-vivo Acute Toxicological Investigations of Leaf extracts of Sesbania cannabina plant

Abstract

Over the years, the increase in resistance and side effects of pharmaceutical drugs have encouraged more research on plants and their diverse secondary metabolites which led to the production of various kinds of medicines. Sesbania cannabina is a plant traditionally known for treatment of inflammation and other skin related illnesses in rural areas. For these reasons, Phytochemical study was carried out to investigate the aqueous, methanol and acetonitrile leaf extracts of the plant for their phytochemical content and in-vivo toxicological effects. The Preliminary phytochemical screening of each extract using standard methods revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, saponin glycoside, steroids, tannins, and volatile oils in either one, two or all the three extracts. The LD₅₀ of the extracts were above 3000 mg/kg per average body weight of the tested Wistar albino rats. Therefore, the obtained results justify the edibility, nutraceutical and medicinal properties of Sesbania cannabina leaves as raw material for production of numerous medicines especially anti-inflammatory drugs due to the presence of antioxidants such as flavonoids