Isolation and Characterization of Two Phenolic Compounds from the Stem Bark of Musanga

M. cecropioides is a tree that grows with great rapidity in high forests of the tropical African zone stretching from Guinea to Zaire and Angola. The tree has smooth bark, grey to brownish-green in color with prominent brown lenticels (1). Ethnomedical uses of the plant leaves as oxytocic (2) antihypertensive (3-5) and antiglycaemic (6) agents have been scientifically validated, while hypotensive effect of the water extract of the stem bark has also been reported to be due to its negative chronotropic and inotropic effects on the heart (7). Phytochemical studies have reported the presence of kalaic acid stem bark and some other triterpenoid acids in the leaves, stem bark and the root wood (812), whereas the leaves have been reported to yield isovitexin, vitexin, chlorogenic acid, catechin, and procyanidins reportedly responsible for the hypotensive effect of the leaf extract via inhibition of angiotensin converting enzyme (13). In furtherance of our study on the stem bark, this work was carried out to examine some phytochemical constituents of the water extract of stem bark.