Phytochemical study of four leaves extracts of Chamærops humilis L. from the region of Al-Hoceima, Morocco

Abstract

The objective of this study was to compare the relative yields of two extraction methods (maceration and soxhlet extraction) using solvents of different polarities and to quantitively and qualitatively assess the secondary metabolite contents of the Chamærops humilis L. plant. In the experiments, we used the maceration and the extraction processes using soxhlet. Several solvents were used, such as diethyl ether, ethyl acetate, ethanol, and water. For the phytochemical screening, we relied on the color and precipitation tests, and for the quantitative determination of the content of total phenol, flavonoids, and flavonols, we used conventional methods. The results showed that the phytochemical screening of the various extracts showed the presence of the majority of metabolite dispersed between the four extraction solvents with exception of alkaloids and proteins which are absent in all the extracts. For the total phenol content, it was in large amounts in the ethanolic extract for the maceration technique and a large amount in the aqueous extract for the soxhlet extraction. In addition to flavonoids and flavonols, experimental tests have shown that ethanol has well extracted these two types of components. The plant Chamærops humilis L. from our region has shown the presence of a high concentration of total phenol and more precisely flavonoids, which can prove its use as an antibiotic for a lot of diseases.