Abstract:
The traditional system of medicine in Sri Lanka has shown much
better improvement, has fewer side effects, and is less expensive
than modern synthetic drugs in the treatment of many diseases. The
objective of the present study was to comparatively evaluate the
qualitative and quantitative analysis of phytochemical constituents
of leaves of Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng., Tinospora cordifolia (Wild)
Hook.f., Enicostemma axillare (Lam) A. Raynal, and Gymnema
sylvestre R. Br. were collected from Jaffna District. The shade-dried
leaves were powdered and extracted with ethanol using the cold
extraction technique. These ethanolic extracts were subjected to
phytochemical analysis using recommended laboratory techniques.
The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's multiple
comparisons at probability value (p <0.05) were used in the
statistical analysis of the data. Phytochemical screening showed the
presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, terpenoids, steroids,
saponins, phenols, and glycosides. Murraya koenigii shows the
highest phenol and alkaloid contents (1960.71±66.88 and
19.42±0.26). Enicostemma axillare shows the highest flavonoid and
tannin contents (22.27±0.86 and 1.26±0.017). Therefore, E. axillare
and M. koenigii can be used as nutraceuticals in traditional medicine.
