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ABSTRACT
Medicinal plants are plants that possess therapeutic properties or exert beneficial pharmacological effects on the human or animal body. The plants exhibit this property due to the presence of phytochemicals in them such as polyphenols, isoprenoids, tannins, flavonoids, saponins, steroids etc. Ageratum conyzoides commonly known as Billy goat weed is an example of a medicinal plant that exhibits a range of therapeutic effects from antioxidant, antidiabetic, antimicrobial and antiinflammatory effects. This is possible due to the various phytochemicals present in the plant. The aim of this study was to perform an in vitro phytochemical analysis of the ethanol extract of Ageratum conyzoides. The specific phytochemicals assayed for in this study were phenols, tannins, flavonoids and steroids. The results obtained from this study showed the following amounts for the four phytochemicals assayed for: phenol (53.49 ± 1.05 mgGAE/g), tannins (16.83 ± 2.20 mgGAE/g), flavonoids (123.14 ± 1.17 mgQE/g) and steroids (15.25 ± 0.07 mgDE/g). The results of this study indicated that Ageratum conyzoides is rich in these essential phytochemicals which are responsible for its vast pharmacological benefits.
