Browsing by Author "Heymann, Henry"

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    The Alkaloidal constituent and some Pharmacopoeial Standards of the Stem Bark of Pachypodanthium Staudtii Engl. & Diels.
    (1985) Heymann, Henry
    This thesis is a report on the study of the alkaloidal constituents and some phariacopocial standards of the stem bark of Pachypodanthium staudtii Engi & Diels, a tropical Annonaceae plant. Amongst its several uses in West African folk medicine, P • staudtii is used, together with other ingredients, for the treatment of benign tumours, the plant is also used in the treatment of lower abdominal pains following childbirth. Previous reports on the chemical study of the plant indicate that up to date, a total of 11 alkaloids have been isolated and identified from the stem bark. These alkaloids are all either protoberberines, oxoaporphines or aporphines. Preliminary TIC analysis of the total alkaloid extract indicated the presence of not less than 16 compounds, four of which were successfully isolated. One of these compounds was shown to be the oxoaporphine liriodenine. The second compound was tentatively identified as the tetrahydroprotobeberine discretine whilst the third compound, also a tetrahydroprotoberberine was found to be structurally related to the compounds corypalmine, isocorypalmine and caseanadine. The fourth compound was partia1y identified as either a proaporphine or an aporphine. The phytochemical significance of the isolated compounds is discussed. Also the presence of liriodenine, a cytotoxic agent, is discussed in relation to the folk medicinal use of the plant as an antitumour drug. In the study on some pharmacopoeial standards, the plant material is evaluated in accordance with some of the requirements set out in the pharmacopoeias for the standardization of crude drugs. The following requirements were applied; TLC analysis, Norphography, chemical tots, ethanol and water-Soluble extractives, ash values, moisture content, content of foreign matter and assay for total alkaloids. Upon the basis of the above investigations, both a descriptive and a set of numerical values were obtained for the characterisation of the plant material. These results and the significance of their application to the valuation and standardization of P. staudtii are discussed.