Phytochemical Screening and High Performance Thin Layer Chromatography Fingerprinting Profiles of Shigru (Moringa oleifera Lam.) Leaves from Tanzania and India

Abstract

Introduction: Shigru or Moringa oleifera Lam. (Moringaceae) is a very useful medicinal plant in folklore medicines of Africa and Asia for the treatment of diseases like ulcers, wounds, inflammation, heart problem, stroke, obesity, anemia, and liver damage. Moreover, the plant leaves are very good supplements for malnutrition and are also used as an antimicrobial agent. The present work was carried out for assessment of physicochemical constants screening of phytochemicals and high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) fingerprinting of the plant samples. Materials and methods: The crude powders of M. oleifera leaves of two varieties, collected from India and Tanzania, were subjected to the physicochemical analysis. The methanolic extracts of the respective leaves were subjected to phytochemical screening to determine the classes of phytoconstituents present and generate HPTLC fingerprinting profiles. Results: Phytochemical screening showed the presence of tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, saponins, carbohydrates, reducing sugars, and proteins in both the varieties, but in different concentrations. The HPTLC finger printing profile of the methanolic extract of the M. oleifera leaves collected from Tanzania showed more number of bands with higher concentrations as compared to that of the Indian variety. Conclusion: This research article compares the physicochemical and phytochemical parameters as well as HPTLC profiles of the leaves of the two designated M. oleifera varieties. Besides the importance for authenticating the plant samples, the present results also show that both the varieties can be used as herbal drugs for different purposes.