Valuable extracts from some Maltese poisonous plants

Abstract

The main aims of this project was to have a clear understanding about the amount of moisture content, the colour of the extract and the percentage dry weight extract from the dry plant material of the five plants that I have chosen, which are the Ricinus communis, Hedera helix, Papaver somniferum, Papaver rhoeas and Hyscoyanus albus. The extraction from these plants was made with five different chemicals which are Petroleum ether, water, a mixture of 50% Ethanol and 50% water, Ethanol and Chloroform. The extracts from these plants were then given to University students studying Pharmacy to proceed with their research. It was found that different types of plants contained different amounts of moisture content and amount of extract, due to their physiology. The colour of the extract was not always the same as the plant colour, meaning that the extract colour was not determined by the plant colour, but the colour of the chemicals found in the plant.