The antisickling effect of stem extracts of Costus afer

This research was geared towards investigating the antisickling effect of stem extracts of Costus afer. The antisickling effect of the stem extracts of Costus afer was investigated to determine and declare its potentiation. This work was approached by partitioning the extracts of Costus afer stem into; stem fat-soluble fraction (SFSF), stem ethanol-soluble fraction (SESF) and stem methanol-soluble fraction (SMSF). The phytochemical screening was qualitatively and quantitatively determined using standard GC-MS methods. The result shows the presence of twenty (20) different secondary metabolites with a wide range of functions. The amino acid profiles of the extracts revealed the presence of Phenylalanine, Arginine, Lysine, Serine, Methionine and others. Haemoglobin polymerization inhibition and the relative percent inhibition were estimated. The ethanol-soluble fraction (SESF), methanol-soluble fraction (SMSF) and fat-soluble fractions (SFSF) are 74.68 % ±0.00, 26.58 % ±0.00 and 22.78 % ±0.00 inhibition on HbSS polymerization, respectively. The percent improvement on Fe2+/Fe3+ ratio are: 96.64 ± 0.12, 66.14 ± 0.11 and 47.24 ± 0.03 for the fat-soluble fraction, methanol-soluble fraction and ethanol-soluble fractions, respectively. The total free amino acid values range from 776.15 ± 2.15 mg/50 g for the SMSF to 1,188.00 ±12.12 mg/50 g for the SFSF. The total vitamin C concentration of the samples expressed in mg/100 g is 297.59 ± 33.26.

The results of this work show that stem extracts of Costus afer can be effectively used as phytomedical therapy for sickle cell disease management.