Bridelia ferruginea is an important medicinal plant widely used in African traditional medicine due to its rich phytochemical composition and diverse pharmacological activities. This study investigated the effect of solvent polarity on the extraction yield and phytochemical constituents of Bridelia ferruginea using successive cold maceration with n-hexane, ethyl acetate, ethanol, methanol, and water. The percentage yield, qualitative phytochemical profile and quantitative phytochemical composition of the various extracts were evaluated using standard analytical procedure.
The extraction yield varied significantly among the solvents, with ethanol producing the highest percentage yield (16.91%), followed by methanol (2.36%), ethyl acetate (1.78%), water (1.61%) and n-hexane (0.32%). Qualitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of several bioactive compounds, including alkaloids, saponins, glycosides, cardiac glycosides, flavonoids, phenolics, tannins, terpenoids, anthraquinones, coumarins and quinones, with their distribution varying according to the extraction solvent. Polar solvents, particularly ethanol, methanol, and water, extracted a broader spectrum of phytochemicals compared with the non-polar solvent (n-hexane).
Quantitative phytochemical analysis further demonstrated solvent- dependent variations in metabolite concentration. The aqueous extract exhibited the highest levels of saponins (4.53± 0.21%), flavonoids (46.32± 0.14 QE/mg/g), phenol (285.50 ±0.49 GAE/mg/g). and tannis (88.12 ± 0.97 GAE/mg/g), while ethanol recorded the highest alkaloid content (9.52±0.14%). These findings indicate that solvent polarity strongly influence the extraction efficiency and phytochemical composition of Bridelia ferruginea. The abundance of phenolic, flavonoids, tannins, saponins and alkaloids supports the therapeutic potential of the plant and provides scientific evidence for its continued application in traditional medicine and future pharmaceutical development