Phytochemical study of important multi-remedial medicinal plants of Chuhar valley of Himachal Pradesh, India

In the present study, a phytochemical analysis was conducted on four important multi-remedial medicinal plants: Taxus baccata L., Berberis aristata L., Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth., and Polygonum amplexicaule D. Don from the Chuhar valley of Himachal Pradesh. These plants were screened on basis of high use-value and used by local inhabitants for various traditional drug formulations. The hydroalcoholic extracts of these important medicinal plants have shown the presence of taxol, picrosides and polyphenols. Taxol present in aerial and underground part of T. baccata was 1.175 µg/100 mg and 1.078 µg/100 mg respectively. On the other hand, picroside markers P-I, P-II and P-III were present in aerial part of P. kurroa viz., 15.28 µg/mg, 0.13 µg/mg, 0.06 µg/mg, whereas in underground part viz., 12.21 µg/mg, 65.44 µg/mg, 4.77 µg/mg respectively. Whereas, in B. aristata, important polyphenols like gallic acid and epicatechin were 2.49 µg/100 mg and 23.74 µg/100 mg, respectively. The Kaempferol was also present but not quantified in the sample. In P. amplexicaule the important polyphenols such as gallic acid, protocatechuic acid and caffeic acid were quantified 60.74 µg/100 mg, 4.11 µg/ 100 mg and 5.49 µg/100 mg in whole plant sample.