Phytochemical profile and proximate composition of Azadirachta indica (A. Juss) harvested at different times of the day

Abstract

The present work was carried out to investigate the effect of time of collection on the concentration of bioactive phytochemical constituents and proximate composition of Azadirachta indica leaves. The plant materials were collected in a day in the month of November at 6am, 9am, 12noon, 3pm and 6pm. phytochemical analysis of crude and methanol extracts, proximate parameters (moisture, protein, carbohydrate, fat and ash) were evaluated in the plant sample using the standard procedure of AOAC. The results from qualitative phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of saponins, alkaloids, tannins, phenols, flavonoids, terpenoids, triterpenoids, cardiac glycosides and reducing sugar in both the crude and methanol extract of A. indica leaf. The quantitative phytochemical estimations of the methanol extract showed highest value of saponins, total phenols and tannins at 12noon, flavonoids and alkaloids at 3pm while least values of saponins, total phenol and tannins were recorded at 6am. Highest amount of crude protein, ash and crude fiber were recorded in the morning. This result together with low crude fat in the morning could make the plant nutritionally good for collection before 9am. Our findings suggest that A. indica leaves could be harvested in the evening for medicinal purpose and best utilized by pharmaceutical industries.