Phytochemical and morphometric analysis of the genus Acalypha Linn. (Euphorbiaceae)

Abstract

The relationship among five species of Acalypha Linn. (Euphorbiaceae) is described using phytochemical and quantitative morphological parameters based on herbarium and field collections. Preliminary phytochemical study revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, saponins and cardenolides in the five species. These secondary metabolites might be responsible for the frequent use of these species of Acalypha in Traditional medicine. The results of the multivariate analyses (Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Cluster analysis) show that two of the nine quantitative parameters account for the differences among the taxa. A. hispida was found to be more closely related to A. fimbriata. A. hispida and A. wilkesiana share some resemblances. The affinity between A. ornata and A. fimbriata was stronger with 21.082 coefficient of agglomeration than the affinity between A. ornata and A. hispida with 1224.099 coefficient of agglomeration. © 2008 Asian Network for Scientific Information.