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Abstract:
Pharmacognostic Potentials of
Garcinia Kola Nut Solvent Extract on Heavy Metal Chelation Therapy has been
investigated in Sierra Leone. During the research work, 86 g of the dried
powdered samples of Garcinia kola nut (Bitter kola) were subjected to Soxhlet
extraction using solvents of increasing polarity. After successive extraction
with Petroleum ether (60 -70oC), Chloroform, Acetone, Methanol, Ethanol, and
water each of solvent extracts were evaporated to dryness under reduced
pressure using Buchi Rotary Evaporator at 50oC. The dried extracts were
weighed, packed into separate air-tight containers for phytochemical screening
and heavy metal sequestering potentials.
The masses of the extracts
obtained were 3.133g (3.64%), 3.409g (3.96%), 6.318g (7.35%), 2.319 (2.70%),
2.864g (3.33%) and 4.353g (5.06%) for
Petroleum ether (60 -70oC),
Chloroform, Acetone, Methanol, Ethanol and distilled water respectively. The
Acetone and Aqueous extracts were found to be the most extracted fractions of
the nut 6.318g (7.35%) and 4.355g (5.06%) respectively.
Standard procedures were used
during phytochemical screening of the various solvent extracts with results
indicating the presence of sterols, carbohydrates, saponins, alkaloids,
flavonoids and tannins thus supporting the use of the plant in traditional
medicine.
Standard solutions of the metal
ions, Cu2+, Pb2+, Zn2+and Fe2+ prepared from reagent-grade trioxonitrate (V)
and tetraoxosulphate (VI) salts using distilled water were treated with the
solvent extracts and Na2EDTA solution as standard. Spectrophotometric
determination of each of the metal ions in the various solvent extracts and
Na2EDTA solution using spectrophotometer model PerkinElmer Analyst 800, showed that the extracts were
more effective in sequestering Pb2+ and Fe2+ ions than Cu2+ and Zn2+ ions. The
aqueous extract was found to be a better heavy metal sequestering fraction for
the metals under investigation when compared with the other extracts including
the Na2EDTA.
Synthetic drugs such as ethylene
diammine tetra acetic acid (EDTA) and dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA) used in
chelation therapy have been reported to be dangerous, have side-effects and
also remove vital nutrients such as vitamins C and E from the human body. From
the results of this study, it has been shown that the aqueous extract of
Garcinia kola nut (Bitter kola) has the potential to provide a more readily
available, natural and better alternative agent for chelation therapy.
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