PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDY TO VALIDATE THE ETHNOBOTANICAL IMPORTANCE OF Dioscorea steriscus TUBERS OBTAINED FROM ZIMBABWE

Abstract

Modern people have embraced plants
as a source of useful bioactive compounds.
As such, plants with medicinal properties
have become essential components in
human life. The purpose of this study was
to investigate the phytochemical profile of
the extract of Dioscorea steriscus tubers
obtained from Zimbabwe. Phytochemicals
were extracted from tubers of D. steriscus
using aqueous acetone. UV-Visible
Spectrophotometry, Fourier transform infrared
(FTIR) spectrometry and highperformance
liquid chromatography
(HPLC) techniques were used to determine
the phytochemical profile of the tuber
extract. The yield of phytochemicals
extracted from D. steriscus tubers was
found to be 6.38 %. The presence of
bioactive compounds possessing phenyl,
organic hydroxyl, amine, carboxyl,
carbonyl, acyl, alkyl and aromatic
functional groups was confirmed using UVVisible
and FTIR analysis. The presence of
substantial amounts of vanillic acid and
kaempferol in D. steriscus tubers was
confirmed using HPLC analysis. In support
of the ethnobotanical values of Dioscorea
species, the study confirmed the presence of
potent phytochemicals in the extract of D.
steriscus tubers obtained from Zimbabwe.