Author(s):

Md. Jashim Uddin, Prasenjit Patari, Samir Kumar Nag and Samir Kumar Sil

Abstract: Herbal phytoresource have been recognized as a potential source of traditional therapeutics and nutrients. The genus Ipomea with 500-600 species comprises the largest number of species within the convolvulaceae. Since ancient time, this genus has been in continuous use for different purposes, such as- nutritional, medicinal, ritual and agricultural purposes. These rich sources of ethno medicinal and nutritional information demand successful chemical studies for effective selection of plants. With the aim in view, a field survey was conducted on 192 respondents of the Mog, Reang and Uchai of South Tripura. Using semi structured interviews and discussions on medicinal uses of plants, the investigator gathered information from the respondents in addition to some traditional health prescriptioners; viz; Ujha, Baidya, Sadhan, Kabiraj. A rigorous qualitative and quantitative analysis of collected data on 73 plants with their uses in curing 69 ailments, three species of Ipomea such as- I.aquatica Forsk., I. batatus Linn. and I. carnea Linn. were found as potential source of trado-medicines. In the present study, the leaves of these plants were targeted to analyze by standard chemical techniques to evaluate their primary and secondary metabolites. The analysis of the results provided evidences that leaf extracts of these tested plants contain moderate amount of moisture (12.27-22.73%), solid content (77.27-87.72%), total ash (4.85-12.25g%),carbohydrate (7.57-17.71g%), crude proteins (25.35-27.25 g%), alkaloids (17.66-19.26 mg g^-1), phenolics (15.33-20.25 mg g^-1), flavonoids (11.41-12.71 mg g^-1), carotenoids (0.55-0.64 mg g^-1), ascorbic acid (32-146 mg/100g) that justifies their use in the traditional medicines for the treatment of various common diseases. The outcome of the study also suggest that these three tested species of genus Ipomea have very good medicinal potentials, meet the standard requirements for drug formulation and serve as good sources of nutrients predominant in the leaf.

Pages: 2073-2082  |  1850 Views  346 Downloads

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