Preparation of extract
The dried and powdered plant material (2.3
Kg) was macerated with ethanol/water (1:1) (7 L
x 3) at room temperature for 10 h each time,
with shaking. The extract was slowly evaporated
to remove the organic solvent and
lyophilized using a freeze-dryer to yield a dark
brown residue (158 g). The final lyophilized
product constituted about 6.8% of the original
dried material. Aqueous suspensions were prepared
from this lyophilized product and used in
all tests. Phytochemical analysis 4,5 gave positive
results for tannins and triterpenes.