PRELIMINARY SCIENTIFIC APPRAISAL OF THE POTENTIAL MEDICINAL PLANT PREMNA LATIFOLIA ROXB. VAR. MOLLISSIMA

Kavya A. and Jayanthi G.*

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are rich sources of bionutrients or bioactive phytochemicals. Studies carried out during the past two decads have shown that these bionutrients have an important role in preventing chronic diseases like cancer, diabetes and coronary heart diseases. The major classes of phytochemicals with disease preventing functions are dietary fibre, antioxidants, anticancerous, immunity potentiating agents and neuropharmacological agents. Hence, the successive extracts namely petroleum ether, benzene, chloroform, ethanol and water were used to evaluate the bionutrients of the promising medicinal plant Premna latifolia var. mollissima and presented in this paper.

Keywords: Bionutrients, Glycosides, alkaloids, Premna latifolia var. mollissima, Verbenaceae.