Article

Proximate and Phytochemical Analysis of the Leaves of Justicia carnea Lindi. and Justicia secunda Vahl and its Taxonomic Implications

Abstract

Proximate and phytochemical analysis of the leaf extracts of Justcia carnea and J. secunda commonly found in Rivers State, Nigeria was carried out using standard methods. Justicia carnea (Flamingo flower) and J. secunda (blood herb, Christ’s blood) belong to the family Acanthaceae. Both species are widely used in folk medicine for the treatment of inflammation, respiratory, and gastrointestinal disorder. The results showed that the content value for carbohydrates was 6.79+0.01 in J. secunda and 3.57+0.03 in J. carnea. Crude protein was 22.33+0.02 and ash was 15.62+0.03 as compared to the values of 17.53+0.02 and 15.01+0.01 respectively in J. carnea. But J. carnea contained higher values of fibre (42.53+0.00) and lipid (8+0.01) than J. secunda (42.21+0.02 and 0.91+0.02) respectively. The moisture content in both plants was relatively higher, 13.55+0.16 and 12.21+0.02 in J. carnea and J. secunda respectively. The qualitative result revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponin, tannin,b flavonoid, cynogenic glycosides and phytate in the two species, while the quantitative result showed the quantity of phytochemicals in Justicia carnea and Justicia secunda as follows; alkaloid (11.17±0.01 and 10.45±0.01), saponin (6.75±0.05 and 0.8±0.00), tannin (132.54±0.04 and 195.22±0.02), flavonoid (7.53±0.03 and 4.33±0.01), cyanogenic glycoside (140.01±0.01 and 230.01±0.01) and phytate (98.25±0.01 and 63.28±0.01) respectively. The presence of some phytochemicals (saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, cynogenic glycosides, tannins and phytate) and some essential minerals proves that it is really an alternative source of medicine.

Keywords: Acanthaceae, Justicia carnea, Justicia secunda, Proximate analysis, Phytochemhhicals.