Medicinal Value of Some Bioactive Compounds from Three Species of Striga Grass (S. hermontheca, S. aciatica and S. gesnerioides) Extractions

The control of Striga infestation in agricultural produce proved to be difficult especially in Africa. This study therefore aimed at finding a way of making the plant useful. The results revealed that all the plants contain flavonoids, glycosides, tannins, phenols, oxalate and carbohydrates. Alkaloid and saponnins were only found to be present in S. gesnerioides. A relative high amount of flavonoids (6.86+0.42 mgRutin/g) and phenols in the stem (9.36+0.55 mgGAE/g) of S. gesnerioides closely followed by leaves of S. hermontheca 4.06+0.25 mgRutin/g, 13.06+0.32 mgGAE/g respectively. The presence of these bioactive components indicates the plant’s potential as a source of major secondary metabolites that may serve as novel medicines. The percentage inhibition concentration at 50% (IC50) of S. hermontheca stem, root and leaves were 73.13 µg/g, 41.39 µg/g and 207.01 µg/g respectively. The stem, roots and haustorium of S. gesneriodes indicated an IC50 of 70.39 µg/g, 55.33 µg/g and 55.07 µg/g respectively while S. aciatica 52.35 µg/g, and 72.71 µg/g respectively. Compared to standard ascorbic acid with IC50 of 57.78 µg/g, the three species have relative significant antioxidant activity. Further successive extraction, purification and characterization of the bioactive components found present in this research will make further research interesting.