PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON FRUITS OF TERMINALIA SPECIES (COMBRETACEAE), USED BY THE LOCAL TRIBALS OF ANDHRA PRADESH

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Received on 10 July, 2013; received in revised form, 27 September, 2013; accepted, 15 December, 2013; published 01 January, 2014

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON FRUITS OF TERMINALIA SPECIES (COMBRETACEAE), USED BY THE LOCAL TRIBALS OF ANDHRA PRADESH

K. Rajasekhar, S. Ramesh and R.R. Venkata Raju*

Phytomedicine Division, Dept of Botany, Sri Krishnadevaraya University, Anantapur-515 033, Andhra Pradesh, India

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ABSTRACT: The present paper deals with preliminary phyto-chemical screening of Terminalia species (Combretaceae), used by the local tribal communities for different human and veterinary ailments. The personal interviews conducted with local herbal practitioners and review of literature yielded 5 species of Terminalia as an effective remedy for diabetes, dysentery, diarrhoea, asthma, rheumatic pains etc. The fruits of Terminalia species used for maximum number of human and veterinary ailments than leaf and stem bark. Ethyl acetate, methanol and water extracts of fruits was conducted for  preliminary phytochemical screening which were used as drug for different ailments and composition of various groups of constituents was discussed.

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Keywords:

Combretaceae, Terminalia species, phytochemical studies, Tribal communities

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INTRODUCTION:Andhra Pradesh is the 4^th largest state and 5^th largest by population in India, which has longest coast line (972 km), and lies between 12⁰ 41' and 22⁰ N latitude and 77⁰ and 84⁰ 40' E longitudes. In every ethnic group there exists a traditional health care system, which is prevalent and popular among the community. The indigenous adivasi society has always been associated with nature for their needs with respect to health care system. The tribal communities have given first and foremost importance to their health care and mostly depending on their surrounding plant resources. The Terminalia species, widely used as crude drugs by the local people ^{1, 2, 3, 4}, possess significant taxonomic diversity, hence present paper gains importance. Terminalia pallida is endemic to Sheshachalam hills of Chittoor district.

METHODOLGY: Information collected from the local herbal practitioners on the usage of plant crude drugs for various diseases. Based on the information, the intensive field forays were conducted in the forests and road sides in Andhra Pradesh, and the specimens were collected.

The voucher specimens were identified with the help of regional floras ^{5, 6, 7, 8} and conformed by comparing with authentic specimens in Sri Krishnadevaraya University Herbarium (SKU), Anantapur, Madras Herbarium (MH), Coimbatore and Central National Herbarium (CAL), Kolkata, and the same were deposited in Sri Krishnadevaraya University Herbarium (SKU), Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh, India.

The samples were collected in bulk quantities for conducting preliminary phytochemical screening. The collected samples were shade dried, powdered about (100 g) and successively extracted with ethyl acetate, methanol and water using Soxhlet apparatus for 6 hours. The extracts were filtered and concentrated under reduced pressure to dryness.

The extracts were subjected for phytochemical screening using standard procedures ^{9, 10, 11, 12, 13}.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The present paper provides information on preliminary phytochemical evaluation ^{14, 15, 16} of Terminalia species. The fruit samples of Terminalia species have been used by tribal’s as an effective crude drug for their ailments, hence selected for chemical analysis. The solvent extracts were subjected for screening and the positive reaction was observed for 28 different groups of compounds (Table 1). The frequency and distribution of various chemical constituents were analyzed to indicate the species wise richness (Table 2).

The preliminary phytochemical analysis revealed that alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, steroids, triterpenoids and volatile oils were recorded as the most predominant secondary metabolites (5spp, 100%), followed by anthocyanins, Anthracene glycosides, carbohydrates, proteins, gallic tannins, phenols (4spp, 80%), dihydrochalcones, flavones, flavonols (3spp, 60%), reducing compounds, aucubins, lignans, Anthraquinones and coumarins (2spp, 40%) while Polyoses, anthocyanidins, emodins, fatty acids, flavones were noticed in single species (20%) only. Interestingly iridoids and polyurinoids were absent in all test species. Flavonoids are the major group of phenolic compounds reported for their antimicrobial ^{17, 18}, anti- inflammatory ¹⁹, anti- typhoidal and anti- viral ²⁰, while gallic acid reported for hepatoprotective and antioxidant ¹⁹.

The test species have been used for diabetes as they contain potential therapeutic properties as evidenced in literature. T. chebula is believed to possess anti hypoglycemic, anti-diabetic and anti-inflammatory properties ^{19, 20, 21}.

The occurrence and distribution of various phytochemical compounds revealed that maximum number of secondary metabolites were found in Terminalia bellirica (20) followed by T. chebula (18), T. gella (15), T. pallida (14), while minimum  were noticed in T. alata. The critical analysis of the data in the light of literature ^{22, 23, 24} resulted interesting information on the formation of drugs and mode of administration. The comprehensive data was provided to indicate the distribution of various groups of compounds in the respective solvent extracts. The fractionation and characterization of active principle involved in healing property is being attempted in the laboratory.

TABLE 1: DISTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOUNDS IN FRUIT EXTRACTS - PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING

Note: 1. T. alata; 2. T. bellirica; 3. T. chebula; 4. T. gella 5. T. pallida; Fr : Fruit, Pt : Part, Sol : Solvent, Al : Alkaloids, AN : Anthocyanins, ANC : Anthocyanidins, ATG : Anthracene Glycosides, AQ : Anthraquinones, Au :Aucubins, C : Carbohydrates, CA : Carotenoids, CC : Catecholic compounds, CO : Coumarins, EM : Emodins, FA : Fatty acids, FV : Flavonoids, FVS : Flavones, FNL : Flavonols, FNS : Flavonones, DC : Dihydrochalcones, GT : Gallic tannins, IR : Iridoids, LN : Lignans, Ph : Phenols, PO : Polyoses, PU : Polyurinoidis, P : Proteins, RC : Reducing compounds, SN : Saponins,  ST : Steroids, TT : Triterpenoids, VO : Volatile oils.

 

 

 

 

 

TABLE 2:  THE FREQUENCY AND DISTRIBUTION OF DIFFERENT CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS IN TERMINALIA SPECIES
S. no	Compound	No of species	% of richness
1	Alkaloids	5	100
2	Anthocyanins	4	80
3	Anthocyanidins	1	20
4	Anthracene Glycosides	4	80
5	Anthraquinones	2	40
6	Acubins	2	40
7	Carbohydrates	4	80
8	Catechelic compounds	2	40
9	Coumarins	2	40
10	Dihydro chalcones	3	60
11	Emodins	1	20
12	Fatty acids	1	20
13	Flavonoids	5	100
14	Flavones	1	20
15	Flavonols	3	60
16	Flavonones	3	60
17	Gallic tannins	4	80
18	Lignans	2	40
19	Phenols	4	80
20	Polyoses	1	20
21	Proteins	4	80
22	Reducing compounds	2	40
23	Saponins	5	100
24	Steroids	5	100
25	Triterpenoids	5	100
26	Volatile oils	5	100
27	Poly uronoids	0	0
28	Iridoids	0	0

AKNOWLEDGEMENTS: The authors are thankful to the University Grants commission, New Delhi for financial assistance and also to the forest officers, government of Andhra Pradesh for their help during field trips.

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How to cite this article:Rajasekhar K, Ramesh S and Venkata Raju RR: Preliminary phytochemical studies on fruits of Terminalia species (Combretaceae), used by the local Tribals of Andhra Pradesh. Int J Pharm Sci Res 2013; 5(1): 246-48.doi: 10.13040/IJPSR. 0975-8232.5(1).246-48

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    How to cite this article:

    Rajasekhar K, Ramesh S and Venkata Raju RR: Preliminary phytochemical studies on fruits of Terminalia species (Combretaceae), used by the local Tribals of Andhra Pradesh. Int J Pharm Sci Res 2013; 5(1): 246-48.doi: 10.13040/IJPSR. 0975-8232.5(1).246-48

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