PHYTOCHEMICAL PROFILING, ANTIBACTERIAL SCREENING AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF THE SACRED TREE (SHOREA ROBUSTA GAERTN.) OF JHARKHAND

Shorea robusta Gaertn., commonly called as Sal tree, is revered as a sacred tree by most of the tribals of Jharkhand, India. They do not worship it rather believe it to the abode of tribal goddess. The plant parts are used as a remedy against various ailments in combination with other ingredients. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the whole plant exhibited the presence of high concentration of bioactive components. The plant extracts also exhibited good antibacterial activities. The HPLC and GC-MS analysis showed the presence of very high concentrations of several phytochemicals such as Trimethylsilyl 3-methyl-4-[(trimethylsilyl)oxy] benzoate, D-Mannitol, Sorbital, Phytol, Hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane, β-Caryophyllene, 1,2,4-Benzenetriol, etc. which are pharmaceutically and industrially very important. Several of these phytochemicals have been determined to be anti-cancerous and antioxidant, antidiarrheal, anti-dysenteric, antibacterial, stimulant, diuretic, styptic and anti-gonorrhoeal. The study revealed that the sacred tree of Jharkhand could be a real blessing for the world in order to harvest several phytochemicals in large quantities and to produce drugs at the low cost to heal several human ailments