PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF ELAEOCARPUS SPECIES OF WESTERN GHATS OF KARNATAKA, INDIA

Abstract

Western Ghats of India has been known for its rich biological diversity. For this study, nine Elaeocarpus taxa were selected; eight taxa from Western Ghats of Karnataka and one from Sri Lanka to evaluate the phytochemicals using solvent extractions. These taxa were grouped into four clusters viz., Munronii, Variabilis, Tuberculatus and Sahyadriensis which showed the presence of 17, 25, 29, 35 molecules respectively through chemotaxonomic analysis using Ultra Performance Liquid Chromatography (UPLC). Among the 29 molecules found in E. tuberculatus and E. madikeriensis, 13 are common in both the species, 7 are unique to E. tuberculatus and 9 are exclusively found in E. madikeriensis. In Variabilis, 7 are common in all the three varieties; 2 are common between E. variabilis var. variabilis and E. variabilis var. saldanhae; only one molecule is common between E. variabilis var. saldanhae and E. variabilis var. surlabiensis. Our findings provided evidence that crude organic solvent extracts of these tested plants contain medicinally important bioactive compounds and it justifies their use in the traditional medicines for the treatment of different diseases. These can be used as pharmaceutical adjuvants in the formulation of various dosage forms.