Phytochemical Analysis of Leaves of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Shruti Srivastava¹, Jatin Jaiswal¹, Hemendra Gautam¹*, Sunil Singh², Surabhi Sharma³

¹Department of Pharmacology, Invertis Institute of Pharmacy, Invertis University, Bareilly

²Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Invertis Institute of Pharmacy, Invertis University, Bareilly

³Department of Pharmacognosy, Invertis Institute of Pharmacy, Invertis University, Bareilly

ABSTRACT:

Ethnopharmacological relevance

Medicinal plants play a vital role for the development of new drugs. The extracts of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and the crude drug itself are being used as an anti-ulcer, aphrodisiac, menorrhagic, oral contraceptive, laxative, anti-fertility, anti-implantation, abortifacient, epilepsy, leprosy, bronchial catarrh and diabetes.

Aim of the study

To establish authenticity, possible to help and distinguish the drug from other species by preliminary pharmacognostical screening of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis leaves

Material and methods

The plant was extracted with different solvents and the extracts were subjected to different qualitative chemical tests.

Results

The presence of various phytoconstituents was observed during the test such as glycosides, alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, saponin and carbohydrates were present in the extracts.

Conclusion

We believe that The investigation carried out by us led to certain findings about the phytochemical features which no doubt can be proved beneficial and serve as scientific background for further isolation steps to obtain the lead compound.

KEYWORDS: Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, extraction, phytochemical analysis, maceration.

INTRODUCTION:

Herbal medicine represents one of the most important fields of traditional medicine. WHO recognized that medicinal plants played an important role in the health care of about 80% of the world population in developing countries and depend largely on traditional medicine ^[1]. It is estimated that about 75% of the 120 biologically active plant derived compounds, presently in the use worldwide, have been derived through follow up researches to verify the authenticity of the data from folk and ethno-medicinal uses. So, there is a great scope for new drug discoveries based on traditional plant uses^[2-4].

Phyto-chemical studies have attracted the attention of plant scientist due to development of new and sophisticated techniques. These techniques played a significant role in giving the solution to systematic problems on the one hand and in the search for additional resources of raw material for pharmaceutical industry on the other hand. Plant synthesizes a wide variety of chemical compounds, which can be sorted by their chemical class, biosynthetic origin and functional groups into primary and secondary metabolites. With the development of natural product chemistry, the potential of chemotaxonomy is now becoming increasingly obvious. The application of chemical data to systematic has received serious attention of a large number of biochemists and botanists during the last three decades. Hibiscus rosa sinensis a well known member of the family Malvaceae, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis grows as an evergreen herbaceous plant. A native to tropical and sub-tropical regions, this plant is extensively cultivated as an ornamental plant. Various parts of this plant, like leaves, flowers and roots, have been known to possess medicinal properties like anti-greying^[5], aphrodisiac, menorrhagic, oral contraceptive, laxative,^[6] antifertility, antiimplantation, abortifacient in rodents^[7], epilepsy, leprosy, bronchial catarrh and diabetes ^[8],It has been reported that the plant flower possesses anti-spermatogenic and androgenic ^[9], anti-tumour ^[10] and anticonvulsant ^[11] activities.

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Collection of plant material

The fresh leaves of Hibiscus rosa sinensis was collected from Raebareli district Uttar Pradesh, in the month August 2012. It was further identified and authenticated by Birbal Sahani Palaebotanical Institute, Lucknow and voucher specimen (13393) was kept at departmental herbarium of Birbal Sahani Institute of Palebotany, Lucknow. The collected plant material was dried in shade and ground in the grounder. The dried powdered drug materials were extracted by 7 different solvents by cold maceration for 48 hrs at room temperature. The extracts were filtered and concentrated at 40^oC. The residues were stored in a freezer until further tests.

Techniques for the Extraction of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Extraction of plant material

The plant material was stored under drying conditions; different parts of the plant were separated as leaves, stems and roots. The separated plant parts were then dried under shade and then leaves was finely powdered with the help of a grinder. The powder of leaves was then subjected to maceration.

Different Methods of Extraction

Maceration

Maceration was carried out on Mechanical shaker. Plant material was extracted with petroleum ether, methanol, ethyl acetate, diethyl ether, chloroform, acetone and DMSO. Leaves of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (5 gm) was put into a 250 ml flask and added appropriate solvent (100 ml). The material was extracted continuously for 1 hr. After extraction the contents of the flasks were filtered through filter paper (Whatman No. 1).

Preparation of the extracts

The leaves of Hibiscus rosa sinensis were shadely dried and reduced to coarse powder. The powdered material was then subjected to successive extraction by maceration extraction method using petroleum ether, methanol, ethyl acetate, diethyl ether, chloroform, acetone and DMSO as a solvents. The extract was evaporated at room temperature to get a solid residue. The extract thus obtained was subjected to phyto-chemical screening and used for further study.

Prelimimnary phytochemical analysis

Preliminary phytochemical screening was carried out by using procedures described by Kokate (1991) and Harborne (1973). It is obvious that any study in pharmacognosy must embrace a through consideration of both primary and secondary metabolites derived as a result of biosynthetic pathway. Therefore, the plant material was subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening in order to detect plant constituents. As per procedure the drug was first subjected to extraction with organic solvents in the increasing order of their polarity. Taking the last drop from thimble on a watch glass and observing residue formation which ensures complete extraction by each solvent. It is also ensured that powdered material is completely dried and freed from traces of previous solvents. After which the extracts were subjected to qualitative chemical tests. All the prepared plant extracts were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening for the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, saponins, carbohydrates, tannins and phenolic compounds [12-13].

RESULT AND DISCUSSION:

The different extracts were subjected to different qualitative chemical tests. The presence of various phytoconstituents was observed during the test such as glycosides, alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, saponin and carbohydrates were present in the extracts. The results were shown in table 1.

Table 1: Preliminary Phytochemical Analysis of various extracts of Hibiscus rosa sinensis

Phytochemical Test

Extracts

Methanolic

Petroleum ether

Ethyl Acetate

Chloroform

Acetone

Di-ethyl ether

DMSO

CARBOHYDRATES

Molisch’s test

Fehling’s test

Benedict’s test

Barfoed’s test

ALKALOIDS

Dragendroff’s test

Mayer’s test

Wagner’s test

Hager’s test

Tannic acid

GLYCOSIDES

Legal’s test

Baljet’s test

Borntrager’s test

Keller-Killiani’s test

Libermann’s test

TANNINS AND PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS

5% FeCl₃ solution

Dil. iodine solution

Dil. HNO₃

Acetic acid solution

Lead acetate solution

CONCLUSION:

The investigation carried out by us led to certain findings about the phytochemical features which no doubt can be proved beneficial and serve as scientific background for further isolation steps to obtain the lead compound.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT:

The authors are in debted to Invertis Institute of Pharmacy, Invertis University for their advice and encouragement to complete this task.

REFERENCES:

1. Fransworth, NR. et al. Medicinal plants in therapy. Bulletin of the World Health Organisation. 63;2004:965-981.

2. Khan I. et al. Phytochemical studies and screening of leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica for its anti-microbial activity against dental pathogens. Archives of Applied Science Research. 2(2); 2010: 246-250.

3. Chopra, RN. et al. In Glossary of Indian Medicinal Plants, 1st edition. Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi, pp. 1956:113-117.

4. Yoganarasimhan SN. Medicinal Plants of India. 2; 2000: 194-198.

5. Adhirajan N. et al. In vivo and in vitro evaluation of hair growth potential of Hibiscus rosa-sinensis Linn. Journal of Ethanopharmacology. 88; 2003: 235-239.

6. Satyavati GV et al. Medicinal plants of India. Indian Council of Medical Research. New Delhi-2; 1987: 331.

7. Batta SK. et al. The anti-infertility effect of Ocimum sanctum and Hibiscus rosa sinensis. Indian Journal of Medical Research. 59; 1970: 777– 81.

8. Indian medicinal plants: A compendium of 500species, Orient Longman. 2; 1995: 149.

9. Reddy CM. et al. Anti-spermatogenic and androgenic activities of various extracts of Hibiscus rosa sinensis in albino mice. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. 35;1999: 1170– 1174.

10. Serrame E. et al. Anti-tumour promoting activity of decoctions and expressed juices from Philippine medicinal plants. Philippine Journal of Science. 124; 1995:275–28.

11. Kasture VS. et al. Anti-convulsive activity of Albizzia lebbeck, Hibiscus rosa sinensis and Butea monosperma in experimental animals. Journal of Ethnopharmacology. 71; 2000:65–75.

12. Kokate CK. Practical Pharmacognosy. Vallabh Prakashan. New Delhi, 2005.

13. Harbone JB. Phytochemical Methods- A Guide to Modern Techniques of Plant Analysis. Chapman and Hall London. 1998: 120-128.

Received on 02.05.2013

Modified on 01.06.2013

Accepted on 08.06.2013

Research Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 5(4): July- August 2013, 182-184