Medicinal plants are regarded as an important source of pharmaceuticals for the formulation of cost-effective drugs due to the presence of biologically active compounds. In the present investigation, Euphorbia thymifolia L. (whole plant) (Family: Euphorbiaceae) and Manilkara hexandra R. (leaves) (Family: Sapotaceae) were screened for the important bioactive secondary metabolite, quercetin. In India, E. thymifolia is found to grow along roadsides, wastelands and semi-arid regions and considered as a weed whereas M. hexandra is an under-utilized fruit tree which falls under the category of endangered plants. Both the plants have been used as traditional medicines to cure various ailments in India since time immemorial. Reverse-phase High Performance Liquid Chromatography(HPLC) was used for the quantitative estimation of quercetin. HPLC is an important and powerful analytical technique for the identification, quantification and isolation of natural products. The quercetin content in both the plants was determined by recording the chromatograms and the results were presented in the table showing retention time, peak area and % assay. The concentration of quercetin was found higher in M. hexandra than E. thymifolia extract. Thus, the study justifies the traditional use of these plants as drugs and both the plants can be used in the formulation of some quality drugs in future however further studies are required in this direction.
Keywords: HPLC, Quercetin estimation, E. thymifolia, M. hexandra