Antidepressant Activities of the Methanol Extract, Petroleum Ether and Ethyl Acetate Fractions of Morus mesozygia Stem Bark

Morus mesozygia Stapf (Moraceae) is the only Morus species indigenous to Tropical Africa. It is believed in traditional medicine that the plant exhibits several medicinal properties. The antidepressant-like activities of the crude methanol extract, petroleum ether and ethyl acetate fractions were investigated using the Forced Swimming Test (FST) and Tail Suspension Test (TST) models. The petroleum ether fraction at a dose of 140 mg/kg was the most effective in both the FST and TST when compared to the activity of the reference drug Imipramine (250 mg/kg) by reducing the immobility duration of the animals by 66.8% and 49.4% respectively.