Abstract

HPTLC FINGER PRINT ANALYSIS OF WRIGHTIA TINCTORIA – A MEDICINAL PLANT

Eswaran, S., Boomibalagan, P and Rathinavel S*

ABSTRACT

Our study is mainly focused to establish the fingerprint profile of Wrightia tinctoria using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). Different solvent extracts such as petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanol and methanol were prepared and phytochemical screening was made using standard procedures. All the solvent extracts were also subjected to HPTLC analysis. The preliminary phytochemical analysis confirmed the presence of alkaloids, triterpenoids, proteins, amino acids, flavanoids and steroids. Comparatively, chloroform and ethyl acetate extracts resolved to show more number of peaks than other solvents used for the preparation of leaf extracts of Wrightia tinctoria. It was apparent that the Rf values were mostly different irrespective of solvents used for extraction. The similarity in few Rf values of 0.21, 0.24 and 0.27 at 254nm and 0.21 and 0.44 at 366nm evidences the presence of specific components among solvent extracts of this plant. The difference in Rf values in most of the appeared peaks reflected qualitative variation in the phytocompounds. It can be concluded that HPTLC fingerprinting of Wrightia tinctoria may be useful in differentiating the species from the adulterant and act as a biochemical marker for authentication of this medicinally important plant in the pharmaceutical industry and plant systematic studies.

Keywords: Wrightia tinctoria, Medicinal plant, Leaf extract, HPTLC analysis, Phytochemical screening.