Abstract

COMPARATIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF UNDER-UTILIZED MEDICINAL PLANT PARTS USING POLARITY-BASED SOLVENTS

Dhivya Shree T., Sharmila S.*, Saritha R.

ABSTRACT

Plant-derived natural products are widely regarded as valuable reservoirs of secondary metabolites with broad therapeutic potential. Phytochemical investigations provide scientific validation of these bioactive constituents, particularly in underexplored plant parts that have not been extensively studied. In the present investigation, lesser-studied parts of traditional medicinal plants were selected, shade-dried, finely powdered and extracted using solvents of increasing polarity, including petroleum ether, acetone, ethanol and water. The resulting extracts were subsequently subjected to preliminary qualitative phytochemical screening following standard protocols. The analysis revealed the presence of major secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, phenolic compounds, tannins, saponins, terpenoids, glycosides, steroids and quinones, with notable variations observed among different solvents and plant parts. Among the solvents evaluated, ethanolic extracts demonstrated a comparatively richer and more diverse phytochemical profile, followed by acetone extracts. In contrast, petroleum ether and aqueous extracts showed selective extraction of predominantly non-polar and polar constituents, respectively. Furthermore, these findings highlight the phytochemical significance of underexplored plant parts and provide baseline data for future quantitative analyses, isolation of active compounds, and bioactivity-guided investigations aimed at therapeutic development.

Keywords: Medicinal plants, phytochemical screening, secondary metabolites, underexplored plant parts, solvent extraction.