Phytochemical studies of selected medicinal plants for their biological activity

Abstract

The present study Phytochemical Studies of Selected Medicinal Plants for their Biological Activity was initiated at the Biotechnology and Life Sciences department of Mangalayatan University, Aligarh in collaboration with CSIR-National Botanical Research Institute, Lucknow. In the present study four plants viz. Cassia tora, Betula utilis, Justicia adhatoda and Sonchus arvensis have been selected on the basis of leads available from Ayurveda: Branch of Indian medicine and their ethnopharmacognostic values. The selected Indian medicinal plants were procured from plant diversity and taxonomy division of CSIR-NBRI, Lucknow in the project BSC-0106. The selected medicinal plants have been studied systematically for bioactive marker compounds and their biological activities according to aim and objectives of the study. newlineCassia tora, Betula utilis, Justicia adhatoda and Sonchus arvensis are well known for their medicinal potential. All medicinally important plant parts were investigated systematically for their phytochemical studies which includes extraction in methanol, successive fractionation with different solvents like hexane, ethyl acetate, chloroform and water. All the solvent fractions were evaluated for in vitro primary screening of biological assays i.e. antimicrobial, anticancer and antidiabetic activities. newlineThe different geographical regions of India for the collection of plant samples were selected randomly and investigated for quantification of bioactive marker compounds which is responsible for various biological activities. The quantitative analysis revealed that there is significant variation in bioactive compounds from different geographical locations of selected medicinal plants. Present study also depicts that the selected medicinal plants from particular geographical location shows higher amount of phytoconstituents and enhanced biological activities. These enhanced activity and quantity of chemical constituents results may infer the soil properties, climatic and environmental conditions of that particular area which directly or indirectly affects the phytochemical constitution of plants. Hence study can be utilized to form the basis for establishing the quality standards to obtain high yield of phytoconstituents from respective plants viz. C. tora, B. utilis, J. adhatoda and S. arvensis. newline newline