African Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 6 (13), pp. 1516-1520, 4 July 2007   

ISSN 1684–5315 © 2007 Academic Journals        

Full Length Research Paper

A chemotaxonomic approach to the alkane content of three species of Anthocleista Afzel. (Loganiaceae)

Mubo A. Sonibare¹, M. O. Soladoye², Y. Ekine-Ogunlana²

¹Department of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Univeristy of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria.

²Department of Plant Science and Applied Zoology, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Nigeria.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: sonibaredeola@yahoo.com

Accepted 30 May, 2007

The chemotaxonomic significance of leaf wax n-alkanes was studied in three species of Anthocleista Afzel. Identification of alkane components were determined by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS) data. In all, fourteen alkanes were identified, ranging from tetracosane (C₂₄H₅₀) to heptriacontane (C₃₇H₇₆). Tetracosane, pentacosane and heptriacontane were the major components in all the three species of Anthocleista. A. djalonensis and A. vogelii were characterized by high percentages of tetracosane (28.81 and 39.14%, respectively), whereas in A. nobilis heptriacontane (C₃₇H₇₆) was the major component being 24.76%. Significant correlation between A. djalonensis and A. vogelii (r = 0.884 and p = 0.000) at 0.01 implies a probable closeness between these species. However, the result obtained in this study provides further evidence of chemotaxonomic significance.

Key words: Leaf wax, leaf alkanes, Anthocleista, Loganiaceae, alkane distribution, chemotaxonomy.