Comparative Evaluation of the Secondary Metabolites Concentrations in Prunus africana on the Slopes of Mount Cameroon

Abstract

Mount Cameroon is a biodiversity hotspot and a home to diverse fauna and flora species harbouring a variety of endemic and endangered species including Prunus africana. This plant is a tree restricted to mountain forest in Africa at altitude of 1500 to 3000 m. The species occurs naturally in 3 regions of Cameroon: Northwest, Adamawa and Southwest Regions. Little or no investigation has been carried out to check if the plants growing at lower altitudes (in agroforestry systems) have the same secondary metabolites concentration in different plant parts as those growing at an upper elevation (wild). This work was carried out on a 1 ha plot subdivided into 16 sub-plots of 25 m x 25 m located in the upper mountain forest of Mount Cameroon and agroforestry system in Buea. Samples were collected from the wild at the upper elevations (1672 m-2094 m) and in agroforestry systems at lower elevations ranging between 563 m and 923 m to determine the concentration variations of phytochemicals, specifically phenols and triterpenes. Phenols were present in the stem bark and root bark, but absent or barely detectable in leaf samples and phenolic concentrations might not be affected by the elevation, tree size and the bark thickness. The concentration of Triterpenoids did not differ with respect to the plant part used, the size of the tree, bark thickness and elevation. This suggests that the concentration of triterpenoids in the wild P. africana is the same as those in agroforestry systems.

Key words: Mount Cameroon, Prunus africana, secondary metabolites, concentration, slopes.

DOI: 10.7176/JNSR/16-2-05

Publication date: October 30^th 2025