Estimation of plant pigments concentration from tulsi (Ocimum sanctum Linn.): a six months study

Abstract

Chlorophyll and Carotenoids are two very important plant pigments and are essential for living organisms. Chlorophyll used as food additive. Carotenoids give color to fruits and vegetables. These two photosynthetic pigments act as antioxidant and have the ability to fight against several types of cancer and are also prescribed in case of skin and eye problems. The objective of this research investigation is to observe the specific time period when the concentrations of these two pigments is highest, and accordingly to propose the plant for pharmaceutical and food industry to extract these pigments for herbal product preparations for mankind. One widely used medicinal plant Ocimum sanctum (Tulsi) from the family Lamiaceae was chosen for the study. In the present course of study, fresh leaves from the plant were collected for six months tenure (May, 2017 to October, 2017) and these two pigments quantified based on standard methods. Present study showed that total Chlorophyll and total Carotenoids content is highest in October i.e.in autumn season and amount of pigments concentration was lowest in July i.e. in rainy season.From the result it can be concluded that autumn season would be month of choice for collection and extraction of these two bioactive pigments for pharmaceutical product preparation.