Exploration of Physicochemical and Phytochemical Potential of Moringa Oleifera Lam (Sehjana) Fruits/Pods

Abstract

Background: The physicochemical evaluation is an important parameter in detecting adulteration or improper handling, therefore, physicochemical and phytochemical standardization is considered a prerequisite for the assessment of biological activity and determination of biological standards of the plant material, and it provides the analytical characteristics which may prove to be useful in fixing the physicochemical standard for herbal drugs. So, it becomes imperative to standardize the drugs to ensure their identity, quality and purity to ascertain therapeutic efficacy of herbal drugs. Objective: Therefore, the present study was aimed to evaluate the physicochemical and phytochemical standardization and quality control check of an important drug Sehjana (Moringa oleifera Lam) used for various diseases, Material and Methods: The test drugs, Sehjana (Moringa oleifera Lam.) were collected directly from the herbal garden of department of Ilmul Advia AMU, Aligarh. Which includes parameters recommended by National Unani Pharmacopeia Committee, Qualitative analysis and chromatographic studies (TLC) were performed for proper identification and quality control these parameter include Results: Ash values, Total ash, (6.44%) acid insoluble ash, (3.94%) water soluble ash, (2.53%) Successive extractive values in different solvent; petroleum ether (3.03%), diethyl ether (1.3%), chloroform (1.0%), acetone (1.5%), alcohol (13.1%), aqueous (18.56%), solubility in alcohol (15.2%) and water (22.93%), loss on drying (9.13%), pH at 1% (5.45), & 10% (4.81), bulk density (0.33%) and moisture content (8.6%). Conclusion: Preliminary phytochemical analysis of Sehjana (Moringa oleifera Lam.) showed presence of alkaloid, steroids, phenol, amino acid, and terpenoids, carbohydrate and protein, which may be active compound, responsible for its wide activities.