PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA (WILLD.) MIERS EX HOOK. F. & THOMS STEM OF VARIED THICKNESS

Tinospora cordifolia (Giloe/Guduchi) belonging to the family menispermaceae, is a large extensively spreading glabrous, perennial deciduous twiner with succulent stems and papery bark. It is widely used in Ayurvedic system of medicine "Rasayanas" to the immune system and the body resistance against infections. In modern medicine, T. cordifolia is used for the treatment of general weakness, fever, dyspepsia, dysentery, gonorrhoea, urinary diseases, viral hepatitis and anaemia. The stems of different thickness (diameter) are being used by the pharmaceutical industries for preparation of various herbal formulations without having information about concentration of phytoconstituents. The present study was carried out with the objective to study the variation in phytoconstituents among T. cordifoila stems of varied thickness. T. cordifolia stem of varied diameter, collected from Seoni, Jabalpur and Chhindwara of Madhya Pradesh were analyzed for their phytoconstituents. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of phenols, flavanoids, alkaloids, saponins, cardiac glycosides, steroids, carbohydrate and proteins. Quantitative analysis revealed that all the phytoconstituents increased with the increase in diameter of the stem except alkaloid content. Variation in phytoconstitutents was also found among samples collected from different locations. It can be concluded that stem of larger diameter contains more phytoconstituents and can be used by pharmaceutical industries for making quality products.