Phytochemical analysis, total phenolic, total flavonoid contents and ferric
reducing power of extracts from roots and leaves of Searsia burchellii
Searsia burchellii has therapeutic applications in traditional medicine. The aim of the present study was to analyse the phytochemical profiles, total phenolic contents (TPC), total flavonoid contents (TFC) and ferric reducing power of various extracts from roots and leaves of S. burchellii collected from the kingdom of Lesotho. A combination of maceration, hot solvent extraction and solvent-solvent partition techniques were used to obtain methanolic extracts, fractions such as hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol/water from methanolic extracts and water extracts separately from the roots and leaves of S. burchellii. The presence of alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, coumarins, saponins, glycosides, carbohydrates, proteins and phlobatannins were identified from these extracts/fractions. The TPC of these extracts/fractions was found to be in the range of 3.22±0.37 to 247.46±4.33 mg TAE/g DW, respectively. The TFC of these extracts/fractions was found to be in the range of 34.70±4.31 to 278.20±2.01 mg QE/g DW, respectively. Additionally, these extracts/fractions showed a moderate to strong ferric reducing power compared to ascorbic acid. The IC50 values were found to be in the range of 5.35-143.12 and 65.64-348.28 µg/mL for extracts/fractions from the roots and leaves, respectively. Ascorbic acid showed an IC50 value of 20.93 µg/mL. Therefore, the extracts/fractions from S. burchellii have the potential to replace the existing synthetic antioxidants