Phytochemical Constituents, Haematological Activities and GC-MS Analysis of Isolated Oil of Rosary Pea (Abrus precatorius) in Wistar Rat Fed with High Lipid Diet

Abstract

The study is aimed at investigating the phytochemical constituents and haematological activities of the isolated oil in Wistar rat fed with high lipid diet. Powdered leaves of  Abrus precatorious  were extracted and phytochemical screening was done according to prescribed standard methods, while vacuum liquid chromatography (VLC) was adopted for oil isolation of the crude extract and characterized by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thirty adult Wistar rats were randomly arranged into six groups (A, B, C, D, E and F) and treated under certain conditions. Haematological analyses were performed according to standard procedures. Saponins, alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids and glycosides were present. Oil constituents like octadecanoic acid (stearic acid) (35.30%), a saturated fatty acid was among the components detected in the isolated brown oil. There was a significant decrease (p < 0.05) in the levels of white blood cells (WBC) among the experimental groups (D and E), while mean corpsular haemoglobin (MCH) increased significantly (p < 0.05) with experimental group E (receiving high dose of the extract). This study indicated that methanol extract of  A. precatorius  can offer protection against blockage or plaques caused by high lipid diet.

Keywords:  Abrus precatorius,  phytochemicals, histology, haematology