European Journal of Biotechnology and Bioscience

Authors
Usha Veerachari, Jyothi SG, Senthilkumar U, Mithra Madappa, Ravikanth G, Somashekariah BV

Abstract
Objective: To establish the phenolic (flavonoids) fingerprint profile for identification and making a comparative analysis of the economically important plant Cassia L. at species level. Fingerprint profiles inturn act as biochemical markers and are useful in differetiating the species thus supplementing chemotaxonomic studies. Method: Methanolic extract of the leaves were screened for Quercetin, Gallic acid, Cinnamic acid, Caffeine, Curcumin and Ferulic acid using standard procedure and densitometric evaluation was performed at 254 nm in CAMAG TLC scanner 3 linked to WINCATS software. The image of the plate was captured at 366nm, UV chamber. Results: The contour graph obtained from the densitometric evaluation indicates that the percentage of each compound varies within the species. Quercetin and Curcumin being present in higher concentrations than Gallic acid, Ferulic acid, Cinnamic acid and Caffeine among all the species of Cassia L. Conclusion: Chromatographic fingerprinting is useful in differentiating the species and acts as an important biochemical marker in plant systematic studies and also in authentication of the species.