QUALITATIVE PROFILING OF POTENTIAL BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS IN AFRICAN YAM BEAN SEED

Abstract

African yam bean is one of Africa's under-utilized plant species with potentials to increase food supply. The plant produces small tuberous roots which contains more protein than other tubers such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, cassava roots among others. The nutrient composition of the seed has been studied extensively. However, there is dearth of information on the bioactive constituents of the seed, hence, the thrust of this study. The objective of this study was to qualitatively profile potential bioactive compounds in raw whole African yam bean seeds. African yam bean whole seeds were ground into a flour of 0.05 mm size. The flour was soaked in 60% (v/v) acetone at a solvent-to-solid ratio of 10:1 and continuously agitated for 30 min. at room temperature (27 ± 2°C) for crude extract recovery. After extraction, a rotary vacuum extractor (Eyela, A-1000S, Japan) at 40°C was used to remove the solvent. The crude extract was separated and subjected to Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) for sample characterization. The results revealed bioactive compounds such as 2- Methyl-5,5-diphenyl-4- (methylthio) imidazole (enzyme inhibitor); 2-Methyl-7-phenylindole (bio-receptor), Hexa- hydropyridine, 1-methyl-4-[4,5-dihydroxyphenyl]- (reducing agent, inhibitor); 1H-Indole, 5- methyl-2-phenyl- (potential anticancer); Benzo[h]quinoline, 2,4- dimethyl- (bio-modulators); Amino salicylic acid (antimicrobial agent); 2,3-Dihydroxy-6- nitroquinoxaline (bio-receptor); 2-Myristynoyl-glycinamide (antitumor); Quinoline, 2- chloro-6-methoxy-4-methyl- (bioactivator/inhibitor); 6-Octadecenoic acid (enzyme inhibitor). Therefore, African yam bean seed qualitatively contains potential bioactive compounds that can be tested in vitro or in vivo to establish their levels of bioactivity.