Abstract

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF ROOT OF CARISSA CARANDUS Linn.

N. Kokila*, M. Kousalya, R. Mageshwari, I. Sathish, M. Poovarasan and S. Bhavithra

Abstract

The plant kingdom is a treasure house of potential drugs and there has been an increasing awareness about their importance of medicinal plants. Phytochemicals, chemical compounds that occur naturally in plants are responsible for color and organoleptic properties. Carissa carandas Linn is a large branched evergreen shrub with short stem and strong thorns in pairs belonging to the family Apocynaceae. Carissa carandas Linn is an evergreen diffuse and spiny shrub occurring throughout the country. Carissa carandas Linn root contain chemical constituents of alkaloids, glycosides, flavonoids, terpenes, steroids and polysaccharides. Phytochemical screening of the plants with medicinal value is of great importance and has significance in pharmaceutical companies and research institutes as well for the production of the drugs for healing different ailments. The present investigation dealt with the screening of phyto constituents and physico-chemical analysis of the roots of Carissa carandus Linn. The results showed the presence of phytochemical constituents in the ethanolic extracts of roots of Carissa carandus Linn and it provides an evidence for their use in the folklore medicine for the treatment of various diseases. More such work is to be done to evaluate the exact mechanism of action of the extracts. The results obtained in this study indicate that phytochemical compounds are the bioactive constituents and this tropical plant of roots of Carissa carandus Linn are proving to be a valuable reservoir of bioactive compounds of potential health benefits.

Keywords: Phytochemical screening, Carissa carandus, Ayurveda.