The Ethnobotanical, Phytochemical and Mineral Analyses of Phragmanthera Incana (Klotzsch), A Species of Mistletoe Growing on Three Plant Hosts in South-Western Nigeria

Abstract

Mistletoe is collected wildly on various plants and Phragmanthera incana is noted to grow on different plant hosts. This study was designed to carry out the ethnobotanical survey, phytochemical and mineral analyses of Phragmanthera incana, a species of mistletoe growing on three plant hosts namely Cocoa ( Theobroma cacao), Kolanut ( Cola nitida) and Bush mango ( Irvingia gabonensis). Mistletoe samples were identified at the Forestry Research Institute of Nigeria Herbarium. Phragmanthera incana was screened for its phytochemical constituents and mineral cations along its hosts following standard methods and to confirm if the mistletoe species is host specific. The powdered samples of the mistletoe species ( Phragmanthera incana) was used for both the phytochemical screening and the cation mineral analysis. The uses and the harvesting methods of mistletoe were also reviewed extensively in this paper.