Abstract:

In recent decades, there has been a growing interest in the study of medicinal plants and their traditional use in different parts of the world. Adansonia Digitata; known as the African baobab, is a medicinal plant of the Bombaceae family, widely used in traditional Saharan medicine and as a food condiment. The decoction of the pulp of the Baobab fruit is used as an antidiarrheal. The leaves are recommended to treat the aftermath of indigestion and to soothe stomach aches. As part of an effort to make the most of natural resources, organic extracts from different edible parts of this plant (leaves, fruit and seeds) were prepared by successive maceration in dichloromethane and methanol. The qualitative characterization, carried out by thin-layer chromatography (TLC) was able to reveal the presence of different phenolic molecules with diversified retention factors (Rf). Quantitative estimation of its phenolic compounds, namely total polyphenols, flavonoids and condensed tannins, was carried out by colorimetric methods (ultra violet spectrophotometry) using Folin-Ciocalteu reagent, aluminum chloride and vanillin respectively. The results obtained effectively confirmed the richness of the extracts in these compounds. The evaluation of the antioxidant power, carried out using the DPPH free radical scavenging method, indicated that the various methanolic extracts have a very good antioxidant activity. The quantitative determination of ascorbic acid in different parts of the plant under study was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and has revealed the presence of this vitamin solely and in a very abounding manner in the fruit pulp with a concentration of 1206.246 mg / l.

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