Tabriz University of Medical Sciences Pharmaceutical Sciences 1735-403X 29 1 2023 01 01 Phytochemical and Antiplasmodial Evaluation of Five Colombian Plants with Ethnopharmacological Background of Antimalarial Use 123 132 10.34172/PS.2022.16 EN Jorge Enrique Hernández-Carvajal https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5454-8069 María Helena Arias-Marciales https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1011-5157 José Octavio García Yoshie Adriana Hata-Uribe https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9203-0829 Giovanny Garavito-Cárdenas https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6055-0501 Pilar Ester Luengas Caicedo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0184-1237 Journal Article 10.34172/PS.2022.16 2021 11 24 2022 03 29 Background: The study of medicinal plants has made it possible to develop products and drugs for the treatment of different diseases. Several plants in Colombia have a history of popular use for the treatment of malaria. The objective of this work was to provide information on the antiplasmodic and phytochemical activity of five neotropical native plants with a folk use for the treatment of malaria. Methods: The ethanolic extract of each species was obtained by percolation method and characterized by thin-layer chromatography (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). The in vitro antiplasmodial activity was evaluated against Plasmodium falciparum (strain FCR-3, chloroquine-resistant). Results: Ethanolic extracts of Ambelania duckey, Cecropia metensis, Cecropia membranacea, and Verbena littoralis showed no activity. However, Curarea toxicofera extract exhibited an IC50 of 7.6 ± 3.9 μg/mL and was classified as moderately active. Most extracts show hemolytic concentration (CH50) > 1000 μg/ mL). A preliminary phytochemical study was carried out using tube analysis, TLC, HPLC, and 1H-NMR. Steroids or triterpenes, and phenolic compounds were detected by TLC in all extracts. These findings were confirmed by characteristic aliphatic and aromatic signals in 1H-NMR spectra, corresponding to triterpenes and phenolics, respectively. Additionally, alkaloids were extracted from C. toxicofera and detected by aromatic signals in 1H-NMR spectra. Conclusion: Ethanolic extract of C. toxicofera showed antiplasmodial activity (IC50 of 7.6 ± 3.9 μg/mL); this activity may be due to the bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids. The ethanol extracts of A. duckey, C. membranacea, C. metensis, and V. littoralis did not present antiplasmodial activity.