Proximate, elemental and anti-nutritional composition of Pachycarpus bisacculatus (bitter butter) roots used locally as anti-snake venom

Abstract

Snake bite remains a public health problem in many countries including Nigeria; hence search for snake antivenom has intensified. One plant that is potentially useful in this regard is Pachycarpus bisacculatus roots (bitter butter). This study determined; proximate, phytochemical, of the aqueous, n-hexane, methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of Pachycarpus bisacculatus roots. These extracts obtained by maceration were subjected to qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening. Proximate, elemental, anti-nutritional compositions of this plant were carried out using standard methods. Results obtained were: moisture content (71.56±0.06, 7.53±0.37)%, crude protein (3.19±0.19, 1.92±0.05)%, crude fibre (11.33±0.31, 3.98±0.28)%, crude fat (1.05±0.07, 0.30±0.03)%, Ash (4.68±0.17, 2.32±0.32)%, carbohydrate (72.21±0.24, 19.92±0.48)% for the dried and fresh roots respectively. Elemental content showed that level of Ca was highest while that of Zn was the lowest. Al, Si, V, Pb were not detected. Anti-nutritional composition showed: oxalate (1.68±0.02 mg/100g), tannins (7.10±0.78 mg/100g), phytate (8.47±0.25 mg/100g) and cyanogenic glycosides (0.03±0.01 mg/100g). Extraction yields were 21.068% in aqueous solution, 1.6391% in ethyl acetate. The results indicate that root extracts of Pachycarpus bisacculatus contain bioactive chemicals and micronutrients which may be responsible for the medicinal properties reported for the plant.