A comparison of the physico-chemical and phytochemical parameters of glands / hairs of fruits and leaves of Mallotus philippensis

extractive matter of the leaves. In addition, the amount of extractable matter observed in cold water extracts of glands/ hairs of the fruits and the leaves was very much less than that was found in other extracts were higher than that of the glands/ hairs of the fruit. In addition, several important chemical constituents were present in the glands/hairs of the fruits and leaves of M. philippensis. These


INTRODUCTION
used to treat external and internal ailments by utilizing special parts of medicinal plants such as the leaves, seeds, Mallotus philippensis known as Kampillaka is used for the preparation of oils branched tree about 10 m in height with grey or pale brown rough bark and can be found throughout India and roots, bark, leaves and glands/hairs (red powder covering the fruits) of M. philippensis for the treatment of a variety of disease conditions (Jayaweera, 2006).
Decoctions of the bark of M. philippensis has been used for typhoid and meningitis (Manandhar, 2000).The glands and the hairs of the fruits are used in the treatment of intestinal worms and also as a purgative.Its oil is used 2001).In addition, the leaves are used externally for different types of skin infections and infected wounds (Kirtikar & Basu, 1996).The glands/ hairs of the fruit mixed with coconut oil is used to dress wounds and burns and the oil of M. philippensis cleanses chronic infected wounds.In dermatitis, especially of the oozing type, M. philippensis is considered to be a valuable remedy (Paranjpe, 2005).Further, the alcoholic extract of the fruits of M. philippensis et al M. philippensis is useful in both internal as well as external treatments.

September 2014
Journal of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka 42(3) The glands/hairs of the fruit and the leaves of M. philippensis are recommended for dermal problems in However, glands/ hairs of the fruits are not available in the market.If the leaves of M. philippensis have properties similar to glands/hairs of the fruits it can be used instead of glands/hairs in medicinal preparations for dermal lesions.Therefore, it is useful to identify the similarities phytochemical components present in glands/hairs of the fruits and the leaves of M. philippensis.
Fresh fruits and leaves of M. philippensis were collected from the Medicinal Plant Nursery, Haldummulla, Uva and authenticated by a Scientist at the Department of Institute, Navinna, Maharagama.Hairs and glands of the fruits, collectively known as red powder were collected from shade dried fruits.The leaves were shade dried, crushed and powdered by using a domestic grinder.Both For the preparation of hot water extract, 5 g of the dryness under reduced pressure using a rotor vapor and stored at 4 o C until use.
Hot ethanol extract was prepared using the same the preparation of cold water extract, 5 g of the C).The dryness under reduced pressure (at 40 o C) and stored at 4 o C until use.
ethanol extract was prepared using the same instead of water.
using (a) glands/hairs of fruits and (b) leaves of M. philippensis the follwing experiments were carried out according to the methods described in WHO guidelines (2000); water extractable matter (hot and cold), ethanol extractable matter (hot and cold), moisture content, total ash content, acid insoluble ash content and water soluble ash content.
Preliminary phytochemical screening of the (a) glands/hairs of fruits and (b) leaves of M. philippensis was carried out using the water extract and the ethanol extract (both hot and cold).The following qualitative phytochemical tests were performed according to the method described by Farnsworth (1996)   The phytochemical constituents of many medicinal plants have been recorded by a number of researchers during the last few decades (Nadkarni, 1976; Sayed & Mukundan screening by extracting with various organic solvents. The extractive value is useful for the evaluation of a crude drug as it gives an idea about the nature of chemical constituents present in the drug.In addition, it is useful for the estimation of chemical constituents soluble in a 2011).In the present study, the extractive matter of glands/ cold and the hot ethanol extractive matter of the leaves.In comparison with the hot water extract, a much less amount of extractable matter was observed in the cold water extract of glands/hairs of the fruit and the leaves.Therefore, more chemical constituents appear to dissolve in the hot water and ethanolic extracts than the cold water extract.The ash (non aqueous residue that remains after a sample is subject to combustion) consists mostly of metal oxides, salts and inorganic constituents.The ash value is a criterion to judge the identity and purity of crude drugs (Kokate et al. contamination with silica, for example with earth and sand.Water soluble ash is part of the total ash content, which is soluble in water and is a good indicator of the water soluble salts in the drug (Mukherjee, 2002).Total ash as well as acid insoluble ash content of the leaves of M. philippensis glands/ hairs of the fruit.
The most important bioactive compounds in medicinal (Devendra et al., 2012).The ethanolic extract of the leaves and the glands/hairs of the fruit of M. philippensis revealed the presence of phenolic compounds, tannins, extracts of the glands/hairs contained only coumarins, saponins and steroids, while the corresponding extracts of the leaves contained phenolic compounds, tannins and alkaloids, in addition to the above.In conclusion, the present study revealed the similarities and differences between the leaves and the glands/hairs of M. philippensis fruit in terms of physicochemical and phytochemical parameters.Moreover, further experiments are needed to (a) quantify the chemical compounds and (b) evaluate bioactivities of the leaves and the glands/hairs of M. philippensis fruit in order to recommend leaves of M. philippensis as a substitute to the glands/hairs of M. philippensis fruit.
of the National Science Foundation of Sri Lanka 42(3) in the ethanolic extract of M. philippensis leaves by the technique (Velanganni & Kadamban, 2011).

(
Phenolic compounds possess biological properties anti atherosclerosis, cardiovascular protection and improvement of endothelial function as well as cell proliferation activities (Han et al., 2007).Natural antioxidants mainly come from plants in the form et al., 2008).Tannins interfere with protein synthesis.Flavonoids are hydroxylated phenolic substances known to be synthesized by plants in response to microbial infection and they have been found to exert antimicrobial activities against a wide array of micro organisms in vitro (Marjorie, 1996).The plant extracts in the present study also contained saponins, which are Mallotus philippensis glands/hairs and leavesJust et al., 1998).Therefore, the presence of various classes of secondary metabolites may play a major role in therapeutic properties of M. philippensis.M. philippensis fruit for internal preparations as well as external preparations such as oils for skin disorders.revealed (a) qualitative similarities in phytochemical constituents in the ethanolic extracts of the leaves and cold and hot ethanol extractable matter of the leaves and the glands/hairs of M. philippensis fruit.