Pharmacological Assays of Plant-Based Natural Products

182 Pages·2016·2.21 MB·English

by  Parimelazhagan Thangaraj (auth.)

Progress in Drug Research 71
Series Editor: K.D. Rainsford
Parimelazhagan Thangaraj
Pharmacological
Assays of Plant-
Based Natural
Products
Progress in Drug Research
Volume 71
Series editor
K.D. Rainsford, Sheffield Hallam University,
Biomedical Research Centre, Sheffield, UK
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/4857
Parimelazhagan Thangaraj
Pharmacological Assays
of Plant-Based Natural
Products
123
Parimelazhagan Thangaraj
Department ofBotany
Bharathiar University
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
India
ISSN 0071-786X ISSN 2297-4555 (electronic)
Progressin DrugResearch
ISBN978-3-319-26810-1 ISBN978-3-319-26811-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-26811-8
LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2015956119
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To Bioprospecting Research Team
Foreword
The health benefits and economic value of traditionally used medicinal plants are
getting increasing attention in the past few decades. This is evident from the
increase in the usage of herb-based drugs for the treatment of various diseases.
Herbal medicines are prepared from live or dried plant resources and contain
hundreds to thousands of interrelated active compounds. Science is beginning to
demonstrate that the safety and effectiveness of herbs are often related to the
synergy of its many constituents. The effectiveness thus relies on the multiple
pathwaysofhowadrugfromplantswouldcounteractonaparticulardisease.Toa
large extent, scientists and researchers all over the world have excelled in proving
theexactmechanismbehindthetherapeuticpropertyofherbalmedicinesandmany
are in the pipeline. This is the right time where this book would engage young
researchers to have some novel approaches towards identifying cost-effective
medicinefromplantswithprimeconcerntotheirconservationsuchthatpeoplewho
struggle for depending on costly synthetic drugs would gather a big relief in their
search for healthy life.
ItisindeedagreatpleasurethatDr.T.Parimelazhaganisontherighttrackwith
his research responsibilities. He has taken a sincere effort to identify the needs of
youngresearchersintheareaofmedicinalplantresearch.Thewaytheprotocolsare
sketched in the book will ease them to excel in their experiments to evaluate the
usefulnessofmedicinalplants.Thisbookwillbegreatresourcesfortheresearchers
to build up new steps to keep on climbing in their area of research.
I truly believe that the book will open new avenues for the students and
researchers to focus into the new era of research in medicinal plants.
Mahavir B. Chougule
M. Pharm., Ph.D., Associate Professor
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences
The Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy
University of Hawaii
Hilo, USA
vii
Preface
Plantsareoneofthebestreservoirsofmedicinalwealthamongthenaturalmedicines.
The interest in harvesting them for the well-being of mankind has increased with
increasingdemandofdrugsfordiseasesofmajorconcernsandthoseemergingwith
modernlifestyles.Butthechallengeisinensuringthesafetyandsustainabilityofsuch
drugs over synthetic ones. Hence, it becomes necessary to validate the natural
medicine from plants with various scientific experiments. At the same time, it also
becomesnecessarytobuiltconservationstrategiestoresistmassdestructionofplant
lifefromearth.Theprimeaimofthebookistoincludeallthosescientificanalysesofa
plantthatwouldpromoteittoareliablemedicineforhumanhealth.Here,anattempt
hasbeenmadetocombinetheworksdonebytheeminentresearchersandscientistsall
overtheworldinsuchamannerthataquickglancewouldgivehandfullofinfor-
mation about how to initiate and move on research in phytomedicine. The book
compiles the most relevant and recent trends of scientific information pertinent to
ethnobotany, ethnopharmacology, phytochemistry, bioinformatics and biotechnol-
ogy.Thebookalsocomprisesexperimentsandprotocolsstandardizedbytheresearch
scholars of Bioprospecting Laboratory, Department of Botany, Bharathiar
University.Aresearcherwouldfinditveryusefulfortheselectionofplant,itsusein
variousinvitroandinvivostudies,isolationandidentificationofactivemolecules,
etc.Thisbookcontains32majorassayswithaspecialemphasislaidonscreeningof
herbaldrugsforantioxidantpotential,pharmacologicalactivityandphytochemistry
involvedinherbalresearch.Thereviewprocessesofthearticleshavebeencarriedout
bytheexpertsfromvariousuniversitiesandresearchinstitutes.Wehopethepresent
compilation will be useful for the students, research scholars, academicians and
industrialists, andpeopleassociatedwithherbalresearch.Theauthor wouldliketo
conveysincerethankstotheBharathiarUniversityauthoritiesandProf.V.Narmatha
Bai,headofthedepartment,fortheirsupportandencouragement.Theauthorwould
also like to thank his research team comprising of Dr. R. Senthil Kumar,
Dr. Blassan P. George, Dr. M. Iniyavan, Dr. K. Arunachalam, Dr. S. Saravanan,
Rahul Chandran, Sajeesh T., Murugan R., P. Revathi, Harini S., Dhivya
S., Saikumar S., Kasipandi M. and Elizebeth George for their contribution in the
ix
x Preface
compilationoftheassaysinawell-designedmanner.Wewouldliketoexpressour
specialappreciationforthepublishersandtheirteamforthesincereeffortsinbringing
outthebookintime.
Parimelazhagan Thangaraj
Contents
1 Ethnobotanical Study. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2 Pharmacognostical Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1 Macroscopic Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.2 Microscopic Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2.3 Maceration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.4 Histochemical Colour Reaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.5 Photomicrography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.6 Organoleptic Character of Plant Powder and Extracts . . . . . . . . 8
2.7 Fluorescence Analysis of Plant Powder with Different
Chemical Reagents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.8 Determination of PH of Plant Powder. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.9 Water Solubility Index (WSI) and Water Absorption
Index (WAI) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.10 Acid Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3 Extraction of Bioactive Compounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3.1 Maceration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.2 Soxhlet Extraction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
3.3 Fractionation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4 Preliminary Phytochemical Studies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.1 Detection of Alkaloids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.2 Detection of Carbohydrates. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.3 Detection of Glycosides . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4.4 Detection of Saponins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.5 Detection of Protein . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.6 Detection of Amino Acids. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.7 Detection of Phytosterols. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
xi