Phytochemical screening and qualitative analysis of selected ethnomedicinal plants from Yavatmal district, Maharashtra

Authors

  • Rahul P. Ade Post Graduate Student, Department of Botany, B. B. Arts, N. B. Commerce and B. P. Science College, Digras, Dist. Yavatmal - 445203, Maharashtra, India
  • Kailash S. Sontakke Assistant Professor, Department of Botany, Gopikabai Sitaram Gawande Mahavidyalaya, Umarkhed Dist- Yavatmal- 445 206, Maharashtra, India

Keywords:

Ethnobotany, Soxhlet Extraction, Phytochemical Screening, Azadirachta indica, Calotropis procera, Aegle marmelos, Yavatmal, Secondary Metabolites

Abstract

Ethnomedicinal plants serve as a vital source of bioactive secondary metabolites with proven therapeutic applications in traditional healthcare systems, including Ayurveda and folk medicine. This study evaluates the qualitative phytochemical composition and extraction yields of three prominent ethnomedicinal species Azadirachta indica (Neem), Calotropis procera (Rui/ Madar), and Aegle marmelos (Bel) collected from the Yavatmal district in the semi-arid Vidarbha region of Maharashtra, India. Shade-dried leaf samples were subjected to sequential Soxhlet extraction using solvents of increasing polarity petroleum ether, chloroform, methanol, and aqueous solvents. Standard qualitative biochemical colorimetric and precipitation assays revealed the presence of key phytoconstituents including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, and cardiac glycosides. Comparative analysis demonstrated that polar crude extracts yielded the highest extractive values, with methanol extracts exhibiting the broadest profile of secondary metabolites across all taxa. The high concentration of polyphenols and flavonoids in these regional specimens correlates with their documented traditional uses as antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, and antipyretic agents. Overall, these findings substantiate the traditional therapeutic claims associated with these regional taxa and highlight their potential for bio-guided isolation, structural elucidation, and standardized drug formulation of active novel pharmaceuticals.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

1. Ekeleme KN, Tsaku PA, Nkene IH, Ufomadu UC, Abimiku RH, Otivis TO, Sedi MU (2017) Phytochemical analysis and antibacterial activity of Psidium guajava leaf extract. GSC Biological and Pharmaceutical Sciences 1(2): 013–019.

2. Hamilton AC (2004) Medicinal plants, conservation and livelihoods. Biodiversity & Conservation 13(8): 1477–1517.

3. Hossain MA, Al-Raqmi AHS, Zawan H, Weli AM, Al-Riyami Q (2013) Study of total phenol, flavonoids contents and phytochemical screening of various leaves crude extracts of locally grown Thymus vulgaris. Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 3(9): 705–710.

4. Jain SK (1987) A Manual of Ethnobotany. Scientific Publishers, Jodhpur, India.

5. Junaid SA, Patil MS (2013) Phytochemical evaluation and antimicrobial screening of medicinal plants. International Journal of Plant Sciences 8(2): 201–205.

6. Kancherla N, Dhakshinamurthi A, Chitra K, Komaram RB (2019) Preliminary analysis of phytoconstituents and evaluation of anthelmintic property of Cayratia auriculata (In-vitro). Maedica: A Journal of Clinical Medicine 14(4): 350–356.

7. Mahalik G, Sahoo S, Satapathy KB (2015a) Ethnobotanical survey of plants used by tribals in healthcare. Journal of Medicinal Plants Research 9(10): 321–329.

8. Mahalik G, Sahoo S, Satapathy KB (2015b) Ethnomedicinal survey of plants used by tribal communities in Odisha, India. Journal of Medicinal Plants Studies 3(4): 111–116.

9. Martin GJ (1995) Ethnobotany: A Methods Manual. Chapman & Hall, London.

10. Masih SK (1990) Ethnobotanical studies of some wild plants of Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. Doctoral Dissertation, Rani Durgavati Vishwavidyalaya, Jabalpur.

11. Panchal P, Parvez N (2019) Phytochemical analysis of medicinal plants: A review. International Journal of Health Sciences & Research 9(3): 391–400.

12. Patil DA (2003) Flora of Dhule and Nandurbar Districts (Maharashtra). Bishen Singh Mahendra Pal Singh, Dehradun.

13. World Health Organization (2013) WHO Traditional Medicine Strategy: 2014–2023. World Health Organization, Geneva.

14. Yirga G (2010a) Assessment of indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants in Central Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. African Journal of Plant Science 4(1): 6–11.

15. Yirga G (2010b) Ethnobotanical study of medicinal plants in and around Alamata, Southern Zone of Tigray, Northern Ethiopia. Current Research Journal of Biological Sciences 2(5): 338–344.

Downloads

Published

2026-03-30

How to Cite

Rahul P. Ade, & Kailash S. Sontakke. (2026). Phytochemical screening and qualitative analysis of selected ethnomedicinal plants from Yavatmal district, Maharashtra. International Journal of Life Sciences, 14(1), 73–78. Retrieved from https://ijlsci.in/ls/index.php/home/article/view/1733

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 1 (2026): International Journal of Life Sciences

Section

Research Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Authors

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If the material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/ licenses/by/4.0/