Senna occidentalis roots were collected from Migori county (0.9366o S, 34.4198o E), Kenya in the months of August and September. This plant was identified by Mr. Jonathan Ayayo, a taxonomist of the National Museums of Kenya (NMK), and a voucher specimen (38/81) deposited at East African Herbarium of NMK for future reference. Further, the plant name was verified with http://www.theplantlist.org on 10/05/2022.
The collected plant roots were air dried in the shade, ground into powder and stored in airtight plastic containers at 4 °C until extraction.
Hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol, in their absolute forms, as well as distilled water were used for extraction by maceration. For organic solvents, the plants root powder was macerated separately with the solvents for 48 hours in an orbital shaker and a filtrate obtained (Whatman No. 1 filter paper). For water, the roots powder was soaked in double distilled water for 24 hours. In addition, a decoction was prepared by boiling the roots powder in double distilled water for 30 minutes at a mean temperature of 95 °C [38 (link)]. Filtration of aqueous extracts was done through a cotton wool plug followed by filtration (Whatman No. 1 filter paper). The aqueous decoction was included to mimic the local’s traditional method of preparing the antimalarial therapy. The filtrates were concentrated by rotary vaporization (BÜCHI R-200 rotary evaporator) at 50 °C and reduced pressure for organic solvents, and lyophilization (NANBEI freeze dryer: NBJ-10-1, Zhengzhou, China) for aqueous solutions. Upon drying, the extracts were stored in sealed sample bottles at 4 °C until needed.
Plant secondary metabolites are excellent predictors of their bioactivity potential [39 (link)]. In order to predict the bioactivity of S. occidentalis roots extract, .standard procedures were used to screen the extracts for the presence of saponins, tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids and sterols [40 (link)].
The collected plant roots were air dried in the shade, ground into powder and stored in airtight plastic containers at 4 °C until extraction.
Hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol, in their absolute forms, as well as distilled water were used for extraction by maceration. For organic solvents, the plants root powder was macerated separately with the solvents for 48 hours in an orbital shaker and a filtrate obtained (Whatman No. 1 filter paper). For water, the roots powder was soaked in double distilled water for 24 hours. In addition, a decoction was prepared by boiling the roots powder in double distilled water for 30 minutes at a mean temperature of 95 °C [38 (link)]. Filtration of aqueous extracts was done through a cotton wool plug followed by filtration (Whatman No. 1 filter paper). The aqueous decoction was included to mimic the local’s traditional method of preparing the antimalarial therapy. The filtrates were concentrated by rotary vaporization (BÜCHI R-200 rotary evaporator) at 50 °C and reduced pressure for organic solvents, and lyophilization (NANBEI freeze dryer: NBJ-10-1, Zhengzhou, China) for aqueous solutions. Upon drying, the extracts were stored in sealed sample bottles at 4 °C until needed.
Plant secondary metabolites are excellent predictors of their bioactivity potential [39 (link)]. In order to predict the bioactivity of S. occidentalis roots extract, .standard procedures were used to screen the extracts for the presence of saponins, tannins, alkaloids, flavonoids and sterols [40 (link)].
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