Phytochemical and Anti-Inflammatory Analysis of Prunus africana Bark Extract

Background and objectives: Inflammation is associated with various diseases; Prunus africana (Hook f.) is commonly used in Meru community of Kenya in management of inflammation. Medicinal plants contain phytochemicals associated with pharmacological activities; so, the aim of the present study was evaluating the anti-inflammatory activity of Prunus africana bark extract and qualitative analysis phytochemical of its phytochemicals. Methods: Five hundred mg of the powdered P. africana stem bark was extracted using 1.5 liters of dichloromethane for 24 h. The anti- inflammatory activity was evaluated against carrageenan paw induced edema in mice. The ability of the extracts to suppress the paw inflammation was expressed as a percentage inhibition of paw edema in five groups each comprising of five mice. Group I was treated with DMSO, group II with diclofenac (100 mg/Kg) and experimental groups III, IV and V with 50, 100 and 150 mg/Kg of the plant extract. The ability of the extracts to suppress the paw inflammation was expressed as a percentage inhibition of paw edema in mice.  The qualitative phytochemical analysis was conducted using the standard protocols.  Results: The percentages paw edema inhibition after the 4th h in the positive control and the experimental groups I, II and III were 13.61, 32.85, 25.15 and 5.92%, respectively. The qualitative evaluation of stem bark extract illustrated presence of tannins, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, quinones, cardiac glycosides, terpenoids, phenolics and coumarins. Conclusion: Dichloromethane stem bark extract of the P. africana presented anti-inflammatory activity hence a possible candidate for extraction of active anti-inflammatory compounds.