COMPARATIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF STEM BARK VERSUS SMALL BRANCHES OF BUTEA MONOSPERMA LAM. USING HIGH PERFORMANCE THIN LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHIC ULTRA VIOLET DETECTION METHOD

Butea monosperma Lam. belongs to family Fabaceae, popularly known as 'dhak' or 'palas'. B. monosperma is extensively used in Ayurveda, Unani and Homeopathic medicine. The plant B. monosperma is known to possess numerous medicinal properties and almost all parts of the plants have been used since decades in medicines and for other purposes. The bark have been reported for various pharmacological properties includes anthelmintic, anticonceptive, anticonvulsive, antidiabetic, antidiarrhoeal, antiestrogenic, antifertility, antimicrobial, antifungal, antibacterial, anti stress, chemo preventive, haemaggultinating, hepatoprotective, radical scavenging, thyroid inhibitory, anti per oxidative, hypoglycaemic effects and wound healing activities. The unique patterns of the chromatographic fingerprint were validated by analyzing stem bark and small branches of B. monosperma. Our results revealed that the chromatographic fingerprint combined with similarity measurement could efficiently identify and distinguish B. monosperma stem bark and small branches. The phytochemical fingerprint profiling of stem bark and small branches of B. monosperma were found similar as an official part of B. monosperma plant i.e. stem bark, therefore small branches may be used in place of stem bark and vice-versa after comparison and confirmation of same pharmacological activities. The method can also be used for identification of different B. monosperma species and adulterants.