Qualitative and quantitative phytochemical screening and chemical fingerprint analysis of Conocarpus lancifolius plant using HPTLC

Most of the traditional medicinal plants in India need to be scientifically validated. Scientific evaluation and traditional knowledge are essential to obtain effective drugs for commercial purposes. This study used a Conocarpus lancifolius plant of the Combretaceae family and the Conocarpus genus. The present study was aimed at phytochemical screening, thin layer chromatography (TLC), and high-performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) analysis of hexane, chloroform, and ethanol extracts of Conocarpus lancifolius. Leaf extracts were prepared according to the polarity of the solvents, i.e., hexane, chloroform, ethanol. Preliminary phytochemical screening involved qualitative methods to detect the presence of carbohydrates, flavonoids, saponins, alkaloids, phenols, etc. The present study establishes the chemical fingerprint through TLC and HPTLC studies carried out as per standard method with different wavelengths in ethanolic extract. The results of qualitative phytochemical screening confirm the presence of carbohydrates, phenols, flavonoids, etc. The HPTLC and TLC analysis was developed to help correctly identify and quantify marker compounds. The phytochemical analysis of the plant is very important commercially, and pharmaceutical companies are very interested in producing new drugs to cure various diseases. The essential phytochemical properties recognized by our study in the indigenous medicinal plant are expected to be beneficial in curing various diseases.