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

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.