Chemical composition, in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanol extracts of different parts of Vitellaria paradoxa

Due to the unique floral biodiversity, the greener nature of natural products, the resistance of disease-causing microorganisms to synthetic drugs, the appreciable level of toxicity of synthetic drugs, and the trend in infectious diseases globally, there is a need to source new drug templates from locally sourced medicinal plants. This work is aimed at investigating the chemical compositions and in vitro antioxidant and antimicrobial activities of methanol extracts of the different parts of the Vitellaria paradoxa plant, including the seed cake left after traditional oil extraction. The antioxidant activity of the leaves, stem bark, seed cake, and root extracts of V. paradoxa was investigated using standard antioxidant assays. The antimicrobial properties of the extracts via the disc diffusion method were also investigated. The seed cake had the highest calorific value (850 kcal). Calcium was found to be highest in the stem bark (1105.83 mg/kg), while potassium was highest in the root sample (4086.50 mg/kg). Flavonoids and phenolics were present in abundance in the root sample (171.60 mg/100g and 396.48 mg/100 g, respectively). The stem bark extract had the lowest IC50 value of 51.52% in diphenyl - 1 - picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scaven-ging, while the leaf extract was better in nitric oxide (NO) scavenging with an IC50 value of 54.15%. The total phenolic content of the extracts correlated positively with DPPH scavenging activity. Total flavonoids correlated positively with NO scavenging activity. The V. paradoxa extracts inhibited the growth of Burtholderia cepacia, Staphylococcus aureus, and Salmonella typhi, among others. V. paradoxa contains some chemical elements that can be used to manage some of the chronic diseases in our environment and can serve as a template for drug discovery.