Salacia species are widely used in traditional medicine for the treatment of several pathologies such as diabetes, liver disorders and skin infections. In Africa, Salacia nitida is used for its beneficial effects against typhoid fever and malaria. However, despite the many traditional uses of this plant, few chemical studies have been carried out on this species. Our study aims to extract, isolate and identify phytocompounds from the leaves and root bark of S. nitida and evaluate their biological potential. Extraction by successive maceration followed by flash chromatography allowed the isolation of five compounds whose structures were elucidated by spectroscopic techniques (NMR and HRMS) and by comparison with literature data. These are two benzophenones, 4’-hydroxy-2,4,6-trimethoxybenzophenone (1) and 4’-hydroxy-2,4,6-trimethoxyphenone-β-D-glucopyranose (2), from leaves, and three xanthones, salacin A (3), salacin B (4) and mangiferin 5 from the root bark of Salacia nitida. Compounds 1 and 5 are already known in the literature. All crude extracts and compounds 1 and 2 were evaluated for their antitrypanosomal activity. Some extracts showed a significant effect on Trypanosoma brucei gambiense.

The phytochemical investigation carried out on five medicinal plants of Ivory Coast, used in the traditional treatment of the tooth decay first focused on the research of their chemical composition. The latter has resulted in the demonstration of several biomolecules (sterols, flavonoids, tannins, etc.), which have signed a good antioxidant profile. In a second time, it was devoted to the quantification of certain phytophenols. The results of this work indicated variable and significant levels overall. The stems of Ximenia americana exhibited the best antioxidant activity, which activity is dependent on its total phenolic compound rich (8802.94 ± 298.54 μgEAG / g), total flavonoids (18.39 ± 0.87%) and condensed tannins (99,369 ± 1,485 μgECT / mg).