DOI: https://doi.org/10.55373/mjchem.v25i2.43

Keywords: Medicinal plant; traditional use; phytochemical screening test; life on land; SDG

Abstract

Combining ethnomedicinal knowledge with phytochemical tests is a strategically sustainable approach to selecting highly potent medicinal plants for the discovery of bioactive metabolites. This paper reports the compositions of five classes of phytochemicals (alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, phenolics, and saponins) in 36 species of different plant parts (52 samples) collected from Kuala Keniam National Park, Malaysia. The traditional usages of each plant species were also included to rationalize the detected classes of phytochemicals. It was found that most of the collected samples were positive for at least one of the targeted classes of phytochemicals. Out of the tested 52 samples, alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolics, steroids, and saponins were found positive in 7, 11, 30, 23, and 14 total samples, respectively. Interestingly some species parts (ie. the leaves of Uncaria sp. and Cratoxyallum formosus) gave a very high ‘++++’ composition for a particular class of phytochemicals, and interestingly their reported constituents and biological activities correlate well with the plant’s traditional uses. The qualitative phytochemicals compositions and the traditional usages of the collected medicinal plant species reported in this paper provide a useful basis that could guide other researchers in selecting only high-potential plants for future in-depth chemical and pharmacological studies. These findings could also assist in managing medicinal plant resources for better sustainability.