Phytochemical and antitermite activities of the stem bark and leaf of Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides.

Abstract

Zanthoxylum zanthoxyloides is a plant that has been found to possess various uses. Since there is increased awareness about the use of Z. zanthoxyloides for the control of termites, it has become an interesting area for scientific investigation. The crude methanol extracts and solvent soluble fractions of the stem bark and the leaves were screened for their phytochemical properties and their antitermite activities. The antitermite activity revealed the stem bark to be the most efficacious extract and the n-hexane fractions to be the most active fraction with the highest activity (96.67 %). The phytochemical screening of the stem bark and the leaves of this plant revealed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids and glycosides. Thus, these results show that the plant possess antitermite effect.