Pharmacognostic and pharmacological evaluation of Syzygium caryophyllatum L. and Syzygium cumini L.

Abstract

India is one of the nation blessed with a rich heritage of traditional medical systems and rich biodiversity to complement the herbal needs of the treatment administered by these traditional medical systems. The recognized Indian Systems of Medicine are Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani, which use herbs and minerals in the formulations. The antioxidant compounds are mostly produced in plants in the form of secondary metabolites. Phytochemicals can be literally referred to as ‘plant-chemicals’. They are the non-nutritive chemical components of plants that possess numerous health benefits and disease prevention properties. Leaf chlorophyll concentration is an important parameter that is regularly measured as an indicator of chloroplast content, photosynthetic mechanism and of plant metabolism. Chlorophyll is an antioxidant compounds which are present and stored in the chloroplast of green leaf plants and mainly it is present in the green area of leaves, stems, flowers and roots. The aim of this study was to observe antioxidant activity from the leaves of S. caryophyllatum and S. cumini and also to evaluate the qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis. The present study emphasizes the pharmacognostical study of the plant, chief chemical constituents, present in the plant S. caryophyllatum and S. cumini, and their pharmacological properties. The selected plants (S. caryophyllatum and S. cumini) have been used as a source for the development of medicines and neutraceuticals. Both plant samples contained bioactive chemicals that have pharmacological or toxicological effects. Both showed the presence of secondary metabolites such as steroids, glycosides, phenolics, tannins, anthocyanins, flavonoids, and alkaloids. Plant extracts antioxidant activity may be attributed to their phenolic and flavonoid content. Because of their phytoconstituents, antioxidants, and antibacterial properties, plants offer enormous potential for use in the pharmaceutical business and medicine.