Abstract

Medicinal plants are an indispensable resource and despite the contemporary progresses recorded in pharmaceuticals and drug developments, they remain an invaluable source of natural products, a basis for novel drug discovery. This study employed Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) to characterize the bioactive compounds present in the methanolic leaf extract of Vitellaria paradoxa. Analysis of the bioactive compounds from Vitellaria paradoxa by GC-MS analysis revealed 25 peaks and a total of 23 compounds were identified. Vast majority of the compounds have been previously reported to have important pharmacological activities. The crude extract of V. paradoxa leaves ameliorated histopathological damages induced in the liver, brain and kidney of albino rats challenged with N. nigricollis venom when compared with the experimental control group. The present study identified an array of bioactive compounds present in V. paradoxa, established the snake venom detoxifying potential of the plant, and reported the ethno-botanical uses of V. paradoxa in the treatment of other medical exigencies.