Phytochemical Investigation of the Ethanol, Methanol and Ethyl Acetate Leaf Extracts of Six Cassia Species

Abstract

Establishment of pharmacognostic profile of the leaves will assist in standardization of quality, purity and sample identification. A comparative study of the secondary metabolites was performed on Cassia alata, Cassia surratensis, Cassia occidentalis, Cassia auriculata, Cassia sericea and Cassia tora. Evaluation of the leaf extracts using various solvents like ethanol, methanol and ethyl acetate was carried out to detect the presence of active components. Qualitative analysis was done for various constituents like alkaloids, tannins, saponins, anthraquinones, anthocyanosides, phenolic flavonoids, falvonoids, carbohydrates, proteins, saponins, tannins, cardiacglycosides and phlobatannins. The phytochemical screening revealed the presence of all the above chemicals except saponins, anthraquinones, anthocyanosides and phenolic flavonoids in some extracts.