DETECTION AND ESTIMATION OF PHYTOCHEMICALS NECESSARY FOR THE TREATMENT OF GYNECOLOGICAL DISORDERS FROM CLITORIA TERNATEA L. ROOT

Abstract

In many developing countries, a large proportion of the population relies on traditional practitioners and their armamentarium of medicinal plants in order to meet health care needs. According to WHO, up to 80% of the population in the developing countries depend on traditional medicine for their primary health care need. Traditional medicine has been practiced by the traditional healers without knowing the actual phytochemical ingredients present in the plant samples used by them. Phytochemical analysis is the first and foremost step in drug designing. The present investigation was aimed to analyze some of the phytochemicals present in the roots of Clitoria ternatea L. The plant C. ternatea L. is a perennial legume belongs to the family Fabaceae. The plant has been used to treat some gynecological disorders by the traditional medicine men. Therefore phytochemicals which are related to gynecological disorders were tested both qualitatively and quantitatively. Qualitative analysis was done by thin layer chromatography. Estimation of the phytochemicals was done following standard protocols. The present study detected phytochemicals such as flavonoids, alkaloids, polyphenols and saponins. Estimation of these phytochemicals showed highest amount of polyphenols and lowest amount of saponins. From this analysis it concluded that the plant sample has phytochemicals which are necessary to treat gynecological disorders.