Opeyemi Saheed Kolawole, Abdullahi Alanamu Abdulrahaman and Felix Ayotunde Oladele
The systematic relationship existing among five members of the genus Jatropha namely Jatropha curcas Linn.; Jatropha gossypifolia Linn.; Jatropha integerrima Jacq.; Jatropha podagrica Hook. and Jatropha multifida Linn. found in Nigeria were studied using quantitative phytochemical parameters. The study was aimed at elucidating the taxonomic importance of the phytochemical parameters in the leaves of the five species of the Jatropha. The species were screened to determine the quantity of the biologically active compounds using standard methods. The active compounds screened for were tannins, flavonoids, phytosteroids, cardiac glycosides, alkaloids, saponins, terpenoids and phenols. Results revealed that the leaf contains tannins, flavonoids, phenols and cardiac glycosides in sizable quantities. Sokal and Sneath coefficient of similarity revealed generally low level of similarity in the quantitative phytochemical parameters of leaves of the five species, ranged from 2.19 and 12.31%.
