Abstract
The Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn is an important medicinal plant and its roots are commonly used in various indigenous system of medicine to cure many acute and chronic diseases. The current study was designed to quantify total phenolic, flavonoid contentsin G. glabra Linn rootsto evaluate the antioxidant potential and to carry out the pharmacognostical investigations along with HPTLC fingerprinting in order to develop the quality control parameters for the standardization of this important medicinal plant. A variety of pharmacognostical investigations e.g., extractive values, total ash, water soluble ash, and acid insoluble ash, moisture content, loss on drying, pH and phytochemical screening of G. glabra Linn roots were analyzed as per the standard methods. The content of total phenolics, flavonoids, pesticide residues, aflatoxin and heavy metals were also determined as per the reported methods. The HPTLC fingerprinting of methanolic extract of the G. glabra roots was also carried out using CAMAG-HPTLC system. The results of phytochemicals investigations revealed the presence of carbohydrates, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, alkaloids, proteins, saponins, lipids, sterols and tannins in various solvent extracts. Total phenolic and flavonoid contents in methanolic extract were found to be 7.47 mg/gm and 2.25 µg/gm, respectively. Heavy metals concentrations were found to be under the standard limits. Aflatoxins and pesticides residues were not detected in the extract. The standard parameters established through this study may prove important tools for authentication, identification, purification and standardization of G. glabra Linn roots in herbal pharmaceutical industries.
Highlights
The Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn is an important medicinal plant and its roots are commonly used in various indigenous system of medicine to cure many acute and chronic diseases
The G. glabra roots contain an important active constituent called as glycyrrhizin; a saponin (Figure 1) which is reported to be 60 times sweeter than cane sugar [4]
A variety of physicochemical parameters like extractive values in different solvents, total ash value, water soluble ash value, acid insoluble ash value, moisture contents, loss on drying, pH values (1% and 10% solutions) were carried out for the development of the standard parameters of G. glabra root extracts
Summary
The Glycyrrhiza glabra Linn is an important medicinal plant and its roots are commonly used in various indigenous system of medicine to cure many acute and chronic diseases. The current study was designed to quantify total phenolic, flavonoid contents in G. glabra Linn roots to evaluate the antioxidant potential and to carry out the pharmacognostical investigations along with HPTLC fingerprinting in order to develop the quality control parameters for the standardization of this important medicinal plant. G. glabra consist of unpeeled dried roots and stolon [1] It is an important medicinal herb which is known since ancient time and it is one of the most widely used herbs in different traditional systems of medicines worldwide [2]. These problems can be overcome by using various modern analytical techniques to ensure quality control of medicinal plants and their products
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