PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILING OF ASTERACANTHA LONGIFOLIA AND MORINGA OLEIFERA: A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF SOXHLET AND MICROWAVE-ASSISTED EXTRACTION METHOD

Plants have rich deposits of phytochemical constituents, which are responsible for their medicinal uses. Different extraction methods like Soxhlet and microwave-assisted extractions are used to isolate these phytochemicals from plant materials. However, there is a lack of studies on a comprehensive comparison of phytochemical profiles obtained from different plant materials using Soxhlet and microwave-assisted extraction methods. Therefore, this research is carried out to investigate the presence and quantification of phytochemicals in Asteracantha longifolia and Moringa oleifera using Soxhlet extraction and Microwave-assistedextraction methods. The extraction process is carried out using solvents like ethanol, hydro-alcoholic solution, and distilled water. In both extraction methods, the highest yield is obtained for the stem and leaves of Moringa oleifera with distilled water. Soxhlet extraction with distilled water exhibited the highest extract yield potential i.e., 12.68% for Moringa oleifera (Stem and leaves) and 9.62% for Asteracantha longifolia (Root). In the microwave-assisted extraction method, Moringa oleifera (Stem and leaves) obtained the highest yield of 19.2%, 28.7%, and 33.2% with the solvent’s ethanol, hydro-alcoholic solution, and distilled water, respectively. Asteracantha longifolia (Root) exhibits a low yield of 0.91% with ethanol and 1.06% with distilled water. The phytochemical screening shows the presence of phytochemical compounds. Furthermore, the result shows that the highest total phenol content is obtained using microwave-assisted extraction, and the highest total flavonoid content is obtained using the Soxhlet extraction methods.