Abstract

DEVELOPMENT OF HPTLC-UV METHOD FOR COMPARATIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF STEM BARK VERSUS SMALL BRANCHES OF FICUS RACEMOSA LINN

S. C. Verma*, E. Vashishth, S. Subhani, R. Singh, P. Pant, S. Gaidhani, M. M. Padhi,
K. S. Dhiman

Abstract

Ficus racemosa Linn. belongs to the family Moraceae. It is a moderate to large size scattering laticiferous tree growing 10-16 m in height without major aerial roots. It is considered as an Ayurvedic medicine to treat several diseases. It possesses various biological effects such as hepatoprotective, chemopreventive, anti-diabetic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic, and anti diuretic. The plant is used in dysentery, pectoral complaints, applied in mumps, other inflammatory glandular enlargements and hydrophobia. The official part (stem bark) is reported to use in the indigenous systems of medicine for a variety of purposes, including coughs and colds etc. The unique patterns of the chromatographic fingerprint of stem bark and small branches of F. racemosa were developed and validated for comparison of phytochemicals. Our results revealed that the chromatographic fingerprint combined with similarity measurement could efficiently identify and distinguish F. racemosa stem bark and small branches. The phytochemical fingerprint profiling of stem bark and small branches of F. racemosa were found similar as an official part of F. racemosa plant i.e. stem bark, therefore small branches may be used in place of stem bark and vice-versa after comparison and confirmation of same pharmacological activities. The method can also be used for identification of different F. racemosa species and adulterants.

Keywords: Ficus racemosa Linn, HPTLC–UV detection, phytochemical fingerprint profiling analysis.