Phytochemical Evaluation of different Solvent Extracts of Aegle marmelos fruit at different Stages of its Ripening

Abstract

Phytochemicals from medicinal plants serve as lead compounds for drug discovery and design. Aegle marmelos (L) Correa belonging to family Rutaceae is one of the most useful medicinal plants of India. Its fruit is packed with enormous medicinal advantages that are used in diarrhea, dysentery and gastrointestinal disorders. It also possesses anti-viral, anti-helmintic and anti-inflammatory virtues. To identify and understand the bioactive chemical compounds dry powders of ripe and unripe fruits were subjected to different solvents such as methanol, ethanol and acetone sequentially in a soxhlet apparatus. An aqueous decoction representing the nearest form of traditional preparations was also prepared separately. Although all the three solvents and decoction exhibited promising phytochemicals, yet maximum phytochemicals was observed in decoction followed by ethanol in ripe fruit. In unripe fruit, decoction and ethanol observed same number of phytoconstituents. The methanol extract showed the presence of tannins, flavonoids and alkaloids as major bioactive compound. Acetone extract of both the ripe and unripe fruit showed only few secondary metabolites that confirms the presence of less phytoconstituents. Thus the current study shows that ethanol extract and decoction of ripe and unripe fruits of Bael have both polar and non-polar phytoconstituents, therefore they can be considered as a suitable solvent for further pharmacological research.

Key words: Aegle marmelos, phytochemical, fruit, ethanol extract, decoction