Abstract:
Senna italica, a member of the Fabaceae family (subfamily Caesalpiniaceae), is widely used in South African traditional medicine
to treat a number of disease conditions. Aqueous extracts of the plant are mainly used to treat sexually transmitted infections
and intestinal complications. The roots of S. italica were ground to a fine powder and sequentially extracted with n-hexane,
dichloromethane, acetone, and methanol using serial exhaustive extraction (SEE) method. Thin layer chromatography was used
to analyse the phytochemical composition of the extracts and DPPH radical scavenging method to detect the presence of
antioxidant compounds. The bioassay guided fractionation of the acetone fraction afforded an antioxidant compound with free
radical scavenging activity.The isolated compoundwas subsequently identified as 3,4????,5-trihydroxystilbene (resveratrol).This study
represents the first report of the stilbene resveratrol in S. italica.
