HPTLC Fingerprints of Various Secondary Metabolites in the Traditional Medicinal Herb Hypochaeris radicata L.

Abstract

The aim of this work was to elucidate the various secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, flavonoids, glycosides, saponins, and terpenoids in the methanolic leaf and root extracts of Hypochaeris radicata, a most important traditional medicinal plant species in Nilgiris, the Western Ghats, India, using high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). This study was carried out using CAMAG HPTLC system equipped with LINOMAT 5 applicator, TLC scanner 3, Reprostar 3, and winCATS 1.3.4 software. A comprehensive assortment of phytoconstituents in methanolic extracts through HPTLC fingerprinting profiles displayed the existence of alkaloids (3 in leaf and 1 in root extract), flavonoids (4 in leaf extract and 5 in root extract), glycosides (1 in leaf extract and 3 in root extract), saponins (1 in root extract), and terpenoids (1 in leaf and root extracts, resp.). The current study overlays boulevard for H. radicata to provide a direction for further exploration in precluding communicable and noncommunicable ailments.