DOI: 10.36347/sajb.2015.v03i07.006

Pages: 607-610

Phytochemical screening and proximate analysis were carried out on the stem, leaves and roots of Dicksonia antarctica (Labill) using standard procedures. The preliminary screening revealed the presence of some important phytochemical compounds like alkaloid, saponins, flavonoids, glycosides, and steroids. Alkaloid was the most prominent and occurred mostly in leaves (46%) and roots (23.6%) while tannin was relatively low in all the samples with the root, having the least content (0.60%). The proximate analysis showed that the plant was rich in plant constituents and most of them were shown to be high in the leaves except carbohydrate which occurred very high in the root (57.15%). Highest moisture content (55.7%) was observed in the leaves while the roots recorded the least value (25.6%).