PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND ANTIMALARIAL ACTIVITY OF THREE MEDICINAL PLANTS: Ficus religiosa, Cassia siamea and Ocimun viride

Malaria is prevalent in sub-Sahara Africa, South-America, Asia and some parts of Europe and it is a major health care problem. Herbal medicines are widely used to treat malaria but the efficacies of these herbal remedies have not been well established scientifically. It is therefore important then to undertake a study to document these herbs to safeguard their rational and safe use and subsequent scientific standardization. Among strategies to combat malaria, the search for new antimalarial drugs appears to be a priority. In searching for new antimalarial plants, three Ghanaian plants of the traditional medicine: Ficus religiosa, Cassia siamea and Ocimun viride were tested in vitro using artesunate sensitive (3D7) P. falciparum clones. Ficus religiosa and Ocimun viride extracts showed moderate activity with IC50 values ranging from 10 to 30 µg/ml and Cassia siamea appeared to be inactive with IC50 values more than 30 µg/ml. Phytochemical screening of the methanolic extracts of the plants reveal the presence of steroids, alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, alkaloids and glycosides which may be responsible for their antiplasmodial activity. The results showed that the leaf extracts of the three plants have potential antiplasmodial activity, which can be exploited in malaria therapy.