INTRODUCTION:

Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) plant is a native from Central and South America. The plant is a member of the family Euphorbiaceae. This shrub has purplish-red coloured leaves which are 16-19cm long and 10-13cm wide (Sabandar et al., 2013). The plant bears unisexual small flowers with yellow centres. The pods are cherry like and bear seeds which are extremely poisonous. (Félix-Silva et al., 2014). Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) is well known as bellyache bush and pignut plant. The plant is rich in many chemical compounds such as alkaloids, phenols, terpenoids, lignoids and steroids (Zhang et al., 2009).

These chemical compounds are responsible for the medicinal potential and the pharmacological activities of the plant. Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) plant has been used as a traditional medicinal plant since a long time. (Vijayta S. et al., 2015). The plant is cultivated widely as an ornamental plant. In India, traditionally Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) has been used for the treatment of diarrhoea and dysentery (Dabur et al., 2007).

Plants are rich in many phytochemicals and out of these, phenols and flavonoids are universally found in plants. Phenols are responsible for pharmacological activities such as anti-oxidant, anti-mutagenic, anti-carcinogenic and they also have the capacity to modify the expressions of genes. Flavonoids are present in fruits, vegetables, nuts, stems, flowers, tea and honey and are responsible for the colours and flavours in them. Flavonoids are effective for the improvement of the blood circulation in the body. They have properties like anti-inflammatory, anti-spasmodic, anti-allergic and anti-microbial (Jain et al., 2019) and they protect the plants from abiotic and biotic stresses.

METHODOLOGY:

a. Plant Material Collection:

Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) leaves, flowers and fruits were collected from Vatva area, Ahmedabad, Gujarat.

b. Preparation of the extracts:

Methanolic extracts of the three parts- leaves, flowers and fruits of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) was prepared in a ratio of 1:1.

c. Chemical Requirements:

1. Chemicals for Preliminary Screening: 10% Lead acetate, 5% Ferric chloride, Bromine water, Chloroform, Conc. Sulphuric Acid, Conc. Hydrochloric acid, Metallic Magnesium, Copper acetate, 1N Hydrochloric acid.

2. Chemicals for Total Phenolic Content: Folin-Ciocalteu, Sodium chloride, Gallic acid, Methanol, Distiled Water.

3. Chemicals for Total Flavonoids Content: Quercetin, Aluminium chloride, Distiled Water, Sodium acetate.

4. Estimation of Preliminary Screening: The phytochemical screening was carried out using the established standard procedures of Vijayta Saini et al., 2015.

Table 1: contains the test procedures and inferences for the various phytochemical constituents.

Table 1: Test Procedures and Inferences for the Phytochemical Screening of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.).

S.r No	Constituents	Test	Inference
1.	Alkaloids	Plant extracts were treated with 1N Hydrochloric acid, followed by addition of Wagner’s reagent	Red or brown colour precipitate
2.	Flavonoids	Plant extracts treated with 5% Ferric chloride solution.	Blackish-red colour
3.	Phenols	To the plant extracts 5ml of water was added in a test tube and was vigorously shaken.	Formation of foam with persistence for 10 min.
4.	Saponins	Plant extracts was treated with 10% Lead acetate.	Yellow colour precipitate formation
5.	Tannins	Plant extracts were treated with 2 ml of Bromine water.	Buff colour formation
6.	Terpenoids	Plant extracts were treated with 5% Copper acetate solution.	Solution turns Emerald green
7.	Glycosides	Plant extracts were treated with 2 ml of Bromine water.	Solution turns Yellow in colour
8.	Steroids	Plant extracts were treated with chloroform, with addition of 2-3 drops of conc. H₂SO_4.(gradually releasing from the dropper through the inner surface of the test tube)	Red colour formation

Determination of Total phenolic content:

Principle:

Analysis of the total phenolic content was based on Folin-Ciocalteau method of Mishra et al., 2018.

Preparation for Standard:

5 mg Gallic acid was dissolved in 5 ml methanol.

Procedure for Total Phenolic content:

Fig: 1 Process of estimation Total Phenolic content

Determination of Total flavonoids Content

Principle:

The Total flavonoids content was determined by the Aluminium chloride calorimetric method of Mishra et al., 2018 with some modifications.

Preparation for Standard:

5 mg Quercetin was dissolved in 5 ml methanol.

Procedure of Total Flavonoid Content:

Fig: 2 Process of estimation Total Flavonoid content

RESULTS:

a. Phytochemical Screening: The result of the qualitative phytochemical screening is shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Phytochemical Screening of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) various parts.

Sr. No.	Compound name	Test	Leaves	Flower	Fruit
1.	Alkaloids	Wegner’s test	++	+	-
2.	Flavonoids	Ferric chlorite	++	++	+
3.	Phenols	Lead chloride	+	++	+
4.	Saponins	Foam test	+	+++	-
5.	Tannins	Bromine water	-	-	-
6.	Terpenoids	Copper acetate test	+++	++	+
7.	Steroids	Salkowski’s test	-	-	-
8.	Glycosides	Bromine water test	-	-	-

Remark: (+) = present, (-) = absent

The Phytochemical screening of the leaf and the flower extracts displayed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, and terpenoids. The fruit extract showed the presence of phenols, flavonoids and terpenoids whereas saponins and alkaloids were found absent. Over all tannins, steroids and glycosides were found to be absent in all the three parts of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.).

b. Total Phenolic Content Estimation:

Gallic acid was used as the standard compound. Different concentrations of Gallic acid were prepared and the absorbance was taken at 765 nm. The total phenolic content was expressed as gallic acid equivalent (GAE) mg/g. The equation obtained from the calibration curve was y = 6.6133x+1.104 and R² = 0.8913 (Fig-3). Here, y is the gallic acid equivalent; x is absorbance and R²is coefficient value.

Fig-3 Calibration curve for gallic acid (standard).

The total phenolic content of the three parts of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.), were expressed as gallic acid equivalent mg/g using the equation obtained from the standard curve. In the equation y = 6.6133x+1.104, x is the absorbance (760nm); y is the total phenolic content in the extract of the leaf, flower and fruit (TPC). R² = 0.8913; here R²is coefficient value. Table 2 shows the variation of mean absorbance with concentration of Gallic acid.

Table: 2 Total Phenolic Content in leaves, flowers and fruits of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.).

Concentration	Absorption at 765 nm
	leaves	Flower	Fruit
0.1	0.213±0.006	0.300±0.095	0.913±0
0.2	0.237±0.015	0.320±0.010	0.223±0.01
0.3	0.283±0.006	0.393±0.006	0.243±0.01
0.4	0.320±0	0.473±0.012	0.280±0
0.5	0.357±0.006	0.540±0.010	0.303±0.01

value expressed as Mean ± Standard deviation

c. Total Flavonoids Content:

Quercetin was used as the standard compound. Different concentrations of Quercetin were prepared and the absorbance was taken at 415 nm. The total flavonoid content was expressed as Quercetin equivalent (QE) mg/g. The equation obtained from the calibration curve was y = 2.7233x + 0.1923 and R² = 0.9825 (Fig-4). Here, y is the quercetin equivalent; x is absorbance and R²is coefficient value.

Fig-4 Calibration curve for quercetin (standard)

The total flavonoid content of the three parts of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.), were expressed as quercetin equivalent mg/g using the equation obtained from the standard curve. In the equation y = 2.7233x + 0.1923, x is the absorbance (415nm); y is the total phenolic content in the extract of the leaf, flower and fruit (TPC). R² = 0.9825; here R²is coefficient value. Table 3 shows the variation of mean absorbance with concentration of Quercetin.

Table: 3 Total Flavonoid Content in leaves, flowers and fruits of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.).

Concentration	Absorption at 415 nm
	Leaves	Flower	Fruit
0.1	0.077±0.012	0.056±0.001	0.053±0.004
0.2	0.092±0.010	0.058±0.010	0.056±0.008
0.3	0.108±0.023	0.069±0.002	0.088±0.010
0.4	0.160±0.037	0.078±0.001	0.117±0.003
0.5	0.204±0.016	0.086±0.001	0.136±0.001

value expressed as Mean ± Standard deviation

DISCUSSION:

Phytochemical screening:

Phytochemical screening of the leaves of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) was performed by the authors S. Vijayta et al., 2015 and Nwokocha, A. et al., 2011 using methanol, acetone, petroleum ether, chloroform and distilled water as solvents. The study resulted in the confirmation of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, glycosides and terpenoids in leaves in the methanolic extract. In the current study methanol was used as the solvent and alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols and terpenoids were found to be present whereas glycosides, steroids and tannins were completely absent in the leaves. The phytochemical screening of the flowers and fruits has not been reported by any author till date. It is found that both the parts i.e., the flowers and fruits have phenols and flavonoids present in them.

Total Phenolic Content and Total Flavonoid Content: Mishra et al., 2018 reported the total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) of the leaves in the methanolic extract as 0.458mg/g and 0.358mg/g. In the current study the TPC and TFC of the methanolic extract of the leaves was calculated as 0.357±0.006mg/g and 0.204±0.016mg/g respectively. The TPC and TFC of the flowers and fruits have not been reported previously by any author. In the present study the total phenolic content and total flavonoid of the flower was calculated as 0.540±0.010 and 0.086±0.001 respectively. The result of the TPC and TFC content of the fruits was calculated as 0.303±0.01 and 0.136±0.001 respectively. This study shows that the highest total phenolic content was in the flowers and the highest total flavonoid content was in the leaves of Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.).

CONCLUSION:

Jatropha gossypiifolia (L.) plant is a member of Euphorbiaceae family. The plant is native from Central and South America. It is an ornamental as well as an important traditional medicinal plant. The therapeutic properties are due to the presence of various phytochemicals in the different parts of the plant. In the current study the phytochemical screening of the methanolic extract of the leaves and the flowers showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, saponins and terpenoids. The fruit extract showed the presence of flavonoids, phenols and terpenoids whereas alkaloids, saponins, steroids, glycosides and tannins were found absent. The study for the total phenolic content showed the best result in the flower extract, whereas the total flavonoid content was best found in the leaf extract.

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Received on 14.03.2020 Modified on 25.03.2020

Res. J. Pharmacognosy and Phytochem. 2020; 12(2): 83-86.

DOI: 10.5958/0975-4385.2020.00015.1