Bambusa vulgaris leaf extracts contain myriad of bioactive phytochemicals: a possible attestation of its medicinal relevance

The use of medicinal plant as alternative and complementary therapy is fast gaining attention in recent times particularly in developing nations. However, little or no attention is placed on identifying their bioactive constituents in terms of structures in relation to therapeutic effect. The present study investigates the bioactive compounds as well as the antioxidant mechanisms of B. vulgaris leaf with a view to providing scientific explanation for its widespread usage in folk medicine. Total phenolic and flavonoid content of the aqueous, methanolic and ethanolic extract of B. vulgaris leaf was determined according to established protocols. Moreover, structure and relative abundance of its active principles were determined using gas chromatography- mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). In vitro antioxidant mechanisms such as 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and nitric oxide (NO?) radicals’ scavenging as well as ferric reducing antioxidant potential (FRAP) were performed following established protocols. GC-MS chromatogram of methanolic extract of B. vulgaris leaf showed that it contains 19 bioactive constituents of varying abundance and retention times. Methanolic extract contained more phenolics and flavonoids than the other two extracts tested. Free radical scavenging and ferric reducing potential was higher in the methanolic extract than the other two extracts used in the study. In conclusion, methanol extracted more bioactive phytochemicals and therefore exhibited higher antioxidant property than water and ethanol. Hence, for optimal medicinal usage of B. vulgaris leaf, methanol should be adopted for its extraction.