Preliminary identification of secondary metabolites from aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the fruit and leaves of Morinda citrifolia L. "noni" and spectrophotometric quantification of total flavonoids

Abstract

This investigation was aimed at the preliminary identification of secondary metabolites from aqueous and ethanolic extracts of the fruit and leaves of Morinda citrifolia L. "noni" and spectrophotometric quantification of total flavonoids. The species was collected in the Botanical Garden of Medicinal Plants “Rosa Elena de los Ríos Martínez” at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Biochemistry, National University of Trujillo. The secondary metabolites found in the preliminary identification were: steroids, quinones, flavonoids, and leucoanthocyanidins. In the spectrophotometric quantification of total flavonoids expressed as quercetin, found that the extract with the highest percentage corresponded to reflux extraction leaf with 0.191%, followed by the lyophilized aqueous and ethanol extracts of leaf with 0.114 and 0.115% respectively, Soxhlet extraction of leaf with 0.007% and aqueous extract of freeze dried fruit with 0.032%. The results of the extracts were evaluated by Variance Analysis and Duncan test.