Comparative Phyto-Physicochemical Studies on Selected Medicinal Plants, Enicostemma littorale Blume and Withania somnifera Dunal.

Abstract

Medicinal plants have been a major source of treatment for human diseases since time immemorial. The physicochemical evaluation of the plant material is an important parameter in detecting adulteration or improper handling of drugs. The present study was planned to compare the phyto-physicochemical analysis of Enicostemma littorale Blume (Whole plant) with Withania somnifera (L) Dunal (root). Both plants are medicinally important and used as anti-arthritic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and hepatoprotective. These plant materials were phyto, physico-chemically standardized according to the methods recommended by the World Health Organization and standard laboratory procedures. The highest percentage of hot water and ethanol extractable matter; total ash and acid insoluble ash (37.21±1.27% & 24.92±0.64%, 8.16± 0.1% & 1.89±0.1%) were found in E. littorale when compared with W. somnifera (30.82±1.09% & 10.0±0.21%, 5.76± 0.1% & 0.63±0.04%). Percentage of loss on drying was found in W. somnifera (9.12±0.10%) and it was slightly lower than E. littorale (10.25±0.33%). Preliminary phytochemical screening of these both plant materials revealed that presence of alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids, steroids, tannins, proteins, reducing sugar, fat and fixed oils and coumarins. This comparative information provides immense potential for studying their activities for arthritis and other disease conditions, both in pre-clinical and clinical stages, which lead to the preparation of useful pharmaceutical products. The present study has authenticated the usefulness of the identified plants for medicinal purposes. These species could also be seen as potential source of useful drugs due to their rich contents of phytochemical.