MAY 2014 – JULY 2014, Vol. 4, No.3; 2158-2164. E- ISSN: 2249 –1929 Journal of Chemical, Biological and Physical Sciences An International Peer Review E-3 Journal of Sciences Available online atwww.jcbsc.org Section B: Biological Sciences CODEN (USA): JCBPAT Research Article Studies on the Morphology and Phytochemical Constituents of Dipcadi filamentosa in Two States of North-Central Nigeria *Abdulkareem, K.A., Garuba, T., Abdulrasaq, R. and Mustapha, O.T. University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria Received: 27 January 2014; Revised: 09 May 2014; Accepted: 15 May 2014 Abstract: Studies were carried out on the effects of environmental differences on the morphology and phytochemical constituents of Dipcadi filamentosa with a view of establishing plant diversity among the different populations. The bulbs were collected from two States in North Central Nigeria. Kabba is located in Kabba-Bunu local Government Area of Kogi State while Kaiama, Sobi and Tanke are in Kaiama, Ilorin East and Ilorin South Government Area of Kwara State respectively. Bulbs of D. filamentosa collected from Kaiama (KB, KM and KS), Kabba (KA), Sobi (SB) and Tanke (TK) were planted in plastic pots at Botanical Garden, University of Ilorin and morphological characters were observed and measured. Phytochemical screenings were carried out to detect presence of secondary plant products. It was observed that all bulb samples collected from Kaiama were phenotypically the same and differed from other samples. Results showed that KB had highest leaf length of 13.10cm while KA failed to sprout at 2 weeks after planting (WAP). The leaf length of SB (46.57cm) and TK (46.43cm) showed no significant difference (p>0.05) from each other but significantly different from the value recorded for KS (27.60cm) and KB (20.23cm) at 10WAP.The maximum leaf area was measured in SB (73.35cm) which showed no significant difference with all the samples except KB (11.08cm). The phytochemicals screening revealed that tannins, saponins, flavonoids and alkanoids were present in all leaves of the samples from different locations and regional difference had no effect on the presence of these secondary metabolites. Keywords: Bulb, Dipcadi filamentosa, bulb, morphology, phytochemical. 2158 J. Chem. Bio. Phy. Sci. Sec. B, May 2014-July 2014; Vol.4, No.3; 2158-2164. Impact of … Abdulkareem et al. INTRODUCTION Dipcadi is a genus of bulbous flowering plant in the family Hyacinthaceae. It is widely distributed, occurring in Southern Europe, most of Africa and the Middle East through to the Indian Subcontinent. Along with three other genera, Albuca, Ornithogalum and Pseudolgaltonia, Dipcadi is placed in the tribe Ornithgaleae1. Some species of Dipcadi occur in stony or sandy flats, rocky habitats and grassland, some are grown in cultivated beds and some occur in crevices on exposed limestone ridge and rocky slopes. They can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade. The genus is characterized by tuberous scapigorous herbs with racemed flowers, cylindrical perianth of six erect segments, and the outer recurved from about the middle and the inner tips only, including stamens and a short capsule which is broad, tridymedous, loculicidal and many-seeded. The raceme is usually one-sided. The stamens that are enclosed within the flower are joined to the tube formed by the sepals and have flat filaments. The black seeds are in the shape of the disc or flattened globe2. Some species of Dipcadi are edible, medicinal and sometimes cultivated by gardeners specializing in ornamental bulbous plants. Some species are poisonous to herbivores such as cattle and sheep3. Phytochemicals are naturally occurring in plants and have protective or disease preventive properties. Glycosides convert harmful materials to more or less toxic substances. Tannins compounds are widely distributed in many species of plants, where they play a role in protection from predation and also as pesticides4 and in growth regulation5. Flavonoids have antioxidant activity. Flavonoids are becoming very popular because they have many health promoting effects. Some of the activities attributed to flavonoids include: anti-allergic, anti-cancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-viral6. Saponins are glycosides with foaming characteristics. Some saponins are toxic and are known as sapotoxic7. This research work was aimed at investigating the morphology and phytochemical constituents of D. filamentosa collected from different locations so as to establish their diversity with a view of determining their taxonomic status. MATERIALS AND METHODS Collection of Materials: The propagating materials (bulbs) of Dipcadi filamentosa were collected from four Local Government Areas of Kwara and Kogi States: Ilorin East (Sobi), Ilorin South (Tanke) Kaiama (Kaiama) and Kabba/Bunu (Kabba).The locations were selected based on agro-ecological differences .All materials were collected in December, 2012. Planting and Measurements: The bulbs were surface sterilized with 70% ethanol and rinsed 3 times with distilled water. Ten viable bulbs were collected from each location. These propagating materials were planted in pots containing sterilized sandy loam soil. The pot size was 15cm×16cm in dimension. The bulbs were planted at 2cm below the soil surface. There were three pots for each location and two bulbs were planted in each of these pots. Irrigation was carried out every morning for ten weeks. Both the qualitative and quantitative measurements of plants were taken every two weeks. The qualitative parameters such as leaf colour, shape and colour of leaf base were observed. The leaf length and width were determined using calibrated rulers. The leaf area was calculated using the following formula by Abayomi and Adedoyin8. Leaf area = l × w × 0.75 where l = length of the leaf w = width of the leaf 2159 J. Chem. Bio. Phy. Sci. Sec. B, May 2014-July 2014; Vol.4, No.3; 2158-2164. Impact of … Abdulkareem et al. Phytochemical Screening: The phytochemical analyses were carried out using the method described by Raaman9. Alkaloid, tannin, flavonoids, anthraquinone, saponins, steroids, glycosides and terpenoids were qualitatively determined. Statistical Analysis: All the data collected were statistically analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION The findings in this research work revealed that all samples collected from Kaiama displayed similar leaf colour (green), leaf shape (slightly curled) and colour of leaf base (yellowish green). The morphology of the remaining plants was qualitatively the same except the leaf shape of KA that was straight as shown in Table 1. Two weeks after planting (2WAP), KB was observed with highest leaf length (13.10cm) but KA failed to sprout. From 2WAPto 8WAP, the leaf length of all samples were numerically but not significantly different from one another. The leaf length of SB (46.57cm) and TK (46.43cm) showed no significant difference but significant difference was observed between KB (20.23cm) and KA (38.73cm) at 10WAP at probability level of 0.05 (Table 2). The leaf width of all samples, throughout the experimental period, showed no significant difference. The highest value for leaf width was observed in SB from 2WAP to 10WAP (Table 3). At the point of termination, the maximum leaf area was observed in SB (73.35cm) which showed no significant difference with all other samples except KB (11.08cm) as shown in Table 4. Leaf number of all samples showed no significant different (Table 5). Table-1: The qualitative characters of Dipcadi filamentosa collected from different local governments. Dipcadi LOCATION/LGA LEAF LEAF SHAPE COLOUR OF filamentosa COLOUR LEAF BASE KB Kaiama Green Slightly curled Yellowish green KM Kaiama Green Slightly curled Yellowish green KS Kaiama Green Slightly curled Yellowish green KA Kabba-Bunu Green Straight Green SB Ilorin East Green Slightly curled Green TK Ilorin South Green Slightly curled Green KB= Kaiama Big, KM= Kaiama Medium, KS= Kaiama Small, KA= Kabba, SB= Sobi and TK= Tanke The phytochemical screening revealed that tannins, saponins, flavonoids and alkanoids were present in all leaves of the samples and locational difference had no effect on the presence of these secondary metabolites (Table 6). At 10WAP, morphological difference was observed in the leaf length. The difference may be as a result of biodiversity. Delgado10 reported that environmental conditions could be responsible for morphological differences in plants. The location and irrigation conditions influenced the dry matter yield and most of morphological characteristics of the plants11. Generally, plants growing in extreme environmental conditions have anatomically and morphologically different chloroplasts than plants growing in environmentally friendly conditions and as a result of this, the morphology of the plants 2160 J. Chem. Bio. Phy. Sci. Sec. B, May 2014-July 2014; Vol.4, No.3; 2158-2164. Impact of … Abdulkareem et al. are expected to vary accordingly12. The presence of phytochemical in Dipcadi filamentosa was supported by the work of Temikotan et al.13 which revealed that flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins and tannins are present in the plant in varying quantities. These phytochemicals play important role in the physiology of living organisms. Alkaloids and saponins are secondary metabolites that are pharmaceutically important in the production of antimicrobial agents Temikotan et al. 13. The problems of resistance to antibiotics have necessitated the need to look for alternatives