A comparative evaluation of phytochemicals in bark, leaves and seeds of Putranjiva roxburghii Wall. (Putranjivaceae)

Abstract

The bark, leaves and seeds of Putranjiva roxburghii Wall. (Putranjivaceae) were compared for their phytoconstituents using a series of solvents with varying degree of polarity. A preliminary qualitative evaluation for secondary metabolites in bark, leaves and seeds was carried out in five different solvents – petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, methanol and water. The methanolic extracts were evaluated to quantify the phytoconstituents using standard protocols for alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, tannins and terpenoids. A comparison of extraction efficacy of solvents indicated that polar solvents such as methanol and water were highly promising than the non-polar systems. All the phytoconstituents were present in higher quantity in leaves than bark and seed. Even though the seed is widely used in traditional medicine and Ayurveda, the present study suggested that the quantity of secondary metabolites was maximum in leaves, followed by bark and the seeds contain comparatively lesser level of all major classes of therapeutically promising secondary metabolites.