Qualitative Phytochemical Screening of Medicinal Plants Using Different Solvent Extracts

Abstract

Medicinal plants are rich in bioactive components that are utilized to treat various human ailments. They are crucial to healing as well. Phytochemical constituents are responsible for the medicinal activity of plant species. Phytochemical screening is an important step in identifying bioactive compounds present in particular medicinal plants. Hence, in this present work, phytochemical screening of leaf extract of some traditional medicinal plants, namely Cannabis sativa, Ricinus communis, and Bryophyllum pinnatum was carried out. The solvent extracts of the leaves of respective plants were prepared using the Soxhlet apparatus with acetone, chloroform, petroleum ether, and aqueous solvents. Qualitative phytochemical analysis of plants included tests for reducing sugars, flavonoids, steroids, glycosides, polyphenols, tannins, terpenoids, and coumarins. All eight tested phytoconstituents were found present in all three plants in any solvent extracts. Aqueous extract confirmed the presence of a maximum number of phytoconstituents in C. sativa in comparison to other solvents. Acetone confirmed the maximum and chloroform confirmed the minimum number of phytoconstituents in R. communis, while chloroform confirmed the maximum and aqueous extract confirmed the minimum number of phytoconstituents in B. pinnatum. These phytochemicals may be a source of innovative plant-based medications because their existence is connected with the therapeutic potential of these plants.