Abstract

PHARMACOGNOSTICAL AND PHYSICOCHEMICAL EVALUATION OF PSOPHOCARPUS TETRAGONALOBUS POD EXTRACTS

Dhanya Rajan*, Rakesh K. Jatt and Sujith S. Nair

ABSTRACT

Plants had been used for medicinal purpose long before recorded history and substances derived from plants remains the basis for large proportion of commercial medications used in Ayurveda, homeopathy, naturopathic and in modern medicines. Psophocarpus tetragonalobus of the family Leguminosae or Fabaceae commonly known as winged bean attracts the attention as valuable crop because of its high nutritional value. The present study aims to evaluate the active potentials of different crude extracts (chloroform and hydroalcoholic) of P.tetragonalobus along with its physicochemical parameters. Preliminary phytochemical investigation was performed to reveal the presence of different classes of secondary metabolites. The content of total phenols and flavanoids in the extracts were determined spectrophotometrically by Folin-Ciolteau and Aluminium chloride method respectively. Phytochemical studies revealed the presence of various constituents like proteins, lipids/oils/fatty acids, carbohydrates, steroids, phenolic compounds, glycosides, tannins and vitamins. The total phenolic and flavanoid content were found to be 12.6mg/g and 9.3mg/g for chloroform extract and 22.9 and 56.8mg/g for ethanol extract.

Keywords: Phytochemical study, phenolic compounds, secondary metabolites.