Preliminary Comparative Phytochemical Screening of Diospyros lotus Stewart

Abstract

3 Abstract: Phytochemical screening is one of the necessary steps to find out the chemical constituents which lead the isolation of compounds. Diospyros lotus extract (leaves, bark, hard wood and roots) was performed for the biologically active secondary metabolites: alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, terpenoids, saponins, anthraquinones, tannins, phlobatanins, glycoside, reducing sugars. Phytochemical screening revealed the presence of anthraquinones, terpenoids, steroids and tannins in the extracts. The roots extract which is generally used as a folk medicine due to the presence of anthraquinones, terpenoids and steroids. The leaves extracts contain steroids, terpenoids and tannins while the bark extracts showed the presence o f anthraquinones, terpenoids and steroids. The hard wood extracts showed the presence of anthraquinones and terpenoids.