PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF PUMPKIN LEAF (JELFAIRIA OCCIDENTALIS)
Abstract
Pumpkin is a popular vegetable mostly used in the preparation of food. It belongs to the
Cucurbitaceae family which comprises of several species. This study screened the
phytochemicals and quantitatively estimated the concentration of alkaloid, saponin,
flavonoid and tannin in pumpkin. The result from the phytochemical screening revealed
the presence of tannin, flavonoid, phenol, saponin, coumarin and alkaloid. Quantitative
estimation revealed that alkaloid, flavonoid, saponin and tannin has a concentration of
4.00%, 8.00%, 9.20% and 2020mg/100ml respectively. The presence of these
phytochemicals in pumpkin shows that plant could have important medicinal and
pharmacological properties. It is therefore recommended that sustainable cultivation,
further researches on the isolation and characterization of the bioactive compounds and
development of life saving drugs from this plant be encouraged.
Full-Text Access Notice
In accordance with the NERD Policy on promoting peer-reviewed publication, public access to the full text of a project, thesis or dissertation is restricted for three years, allowing the author and supervisors sufficient time to pursue peer-reviewed publication.
During this period, researchers with legitimate academic or research purposes may request authorisation directly from the author to enable NERD to release the indexed full texts of the work using the form below.