Comparative phytochemical study of stem bark versus small branches of Acacia nilotica Linn, using HPTLC- UV detection Method

摘要

Acacia nilotica Linn, is a common, medium sized tree, belonging to family Leguminosae. It is popularly known as babul, kikar or Indian gum Arabic tree which has been recognized worldwide as a multipurpose tree. It has the ability to synthesize a wide variety of chemical compounds that are used to perform important biological functions and to defend against attack from predators such as insects,. fungi and herbivorous mammals. Phytochemical screening of the stem bark reported that it contains terpenoids, alkaloids, saponins and glycosides which made it so useful from medicinal point of view. In this paper a new, simple HPTLC-UV pattern method is proposed for comparison of phytochemicals constituents present in stem bark and small branches of A. nilotica. The method can also be used for efficiently, identify and distinguish of different A. nilotica species. The results revealed that the phytochemical fingerprint profiling of small branches of A. nilotica was slightly similar with stem bark as an official part of A. nilotica plant, therefore small branches may not be used in place of stem bark and vice-versa. The retention factor (Rf) of A. nilotica stem bark and small branches furnished a specific HPTLC chromatogram fingerprint which might be helpful for quality assurance and detection of adulteration of crude extracts.