Phytochemical Screening of Selected Indigenous Medicinal Plants of Tublay, Benguet Province, Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines

Various indigenous medicinal plants of Tublay, Benguet Province, Cordillera Administrative Region in the Philippines were subjected to phytochemical screening to determine the presence of natural products (secondary metabolites) i.e., alkaloids, steroids, anthraquinones, flavonoids, saponins, tannins and polyphenols, and cyanogenic glycosides which may be responsible for their therapeutic effects as claimed by the indigenous people. Extracts of fourteen (14) medicinal plants were utilized emp[loying the standard screening method (Guevarra, et al, 2005) for the detection of secondary metabolites. This study was conceived in order to help in the advocacy of medical practitioners and the DOH Tublay in their health enhancement program. The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the 14 ethnomedicinal plants from Tublay, Benguet was done. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of these plants confirms the presence of various phytochemicals like alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, steroid, and glycosides in their methanolic leaf extracts. The present study dealt with highlighting of the phytochemicals with respect to the role of these plants in traditional medicinal system.