GC-MS analysis of raw and roasted seeds of Chrysophyllum albidum, a medicinal plant used for the treatment of tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is a multi-systematic disease with myriad presentations and manifestations and is the most common cause of infectious disease-related mortality worldwide. The disease is treated with the roasted cotyledonous part of Chrysophyllum albidum seeds by traditional practitioners in Ogun state, Nigeria. The phytoconstituents of the hexane fraction and the hexane extracts of the roasted seeds at 50^o C, 100^o C and 120^o C were investigated using GC-MS analysis. The results showed the hexane fraction of the raw seeds contained 92.71 % by proportion of esters of long chain fatty acids. The hexane extract of roasted seeds (50^o C) contained 68.69 % of long chain fatty acids, hexane extract of roasted seeds (100^o C) contained74.54 % while the hexane extract of roasted seeds (120^oC) contained 91.65 %.The traditional method of application of roasted seeds instead of raw seeds in treating tuberculosis enhances the availability of free fatty acids. The main fatty acids content at 120^o C are Hexadecanoic acid and 9, 12-Octadecadienoic acid. Fatty acids had been reported to be toxic to Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Thus the efficacy of the treating of tuberculosis with the roasted seeds of Chrysophyllum albidum is due to the presence of hexadecanoic acid and 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid which could work together or work synergistically with other antimicrobial effectors to bring about macrophage-mediated killing of the pathogen.