Abstract

In Ayurveda, the leaf juice of Adhatoda vasica, a shrub native to Asia is incorporated in many traditional herbal formulations. However, suitable solvent and a suitable extraction method for phytochemical profiling are not well established, and there is no published mass spectra structural interpretation of the identified compounds. This has caused a few problems in herbal formulation research due to the bias derived from different extraction methods. Therefore, this study used polar and non polar extraction for phytochemical analysis on Adhatoda vasica, aiming to assess the potential impact of different solvents. This study included extractive value, total phenol and alkaloid content of the leaves in different preparations. Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) was used to study the phytochemical profile of different solvents. Significant differences were observed in all the parameters such as extract yield, total phenol, total alkaloid and phytochemical composition. The ethanol extract stood out most for effective extraction of phytochemicals, especially for the alkaloids. The results highlight the necessity for comparative analyses of chemical composition in different solvent extractions and careful choice and validation of analytical methodology in herbal formulation research.

Authors and Affiliations