Traditional medicine has utilized roots, bark, and leaves from plants for their medicinal properties. The active compounds in these natural sources are often isolated, characterized, and tested for their therapeutic activities. As such, a herbal plant mixture obtained from Zambia that is proposed to treat diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and high blood pressure was screened to determine its bioactivity. Methodologies to identify components of the herbal mixture included elemental analysis, phytochemical screening, and HPLC. Elemental Analysis, using X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), showed the herbal mixture to contain high potassium, calcium, strontium, and sulfur with little to no heavy metals, magnesium and zinc. Phytochemical screening and HPLC were used to detect the presence of bioactive chemical substances such as flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, and others with therapeutic potential. Further testing is necessary to obtain a biological activity report on the herbal mixture.

Extraction, characterization and screening of plant extracts used in the traditional medicine of Zambia

255th National Meeting (2018)

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