Isolation of biologically active plant secondary metabolites in Albizia chevalieri using column chromatographic techniques

Abstract

Plants have served human beings as a natural source for treatments and therapies from 
ancient times to date; among them, medicinal herbs have gained attention because of 
its wide use and less side effects. Chromatographic techniques have a significant role in 
natural products chemistry and also contribute dramatically to the discovery of novel 
and innovative compounds of pharmaceutical and biomedical importance. In the pres
ent study, the phytochemical analysis of Albizia chevalieri was carried out for the three 
aerial parts of the plant extracted with three different solvents (methanol, ethyl acetate, 
and n-hexane). This study also focused on a step-by-step visual demonstration of frac
tionation and isolation of biologically active plant secondary metabolites in A. chevalieri 
using column chromatographic techniques. Isolation of bioactive compounds using col
umn chromatography involves preparation of the sample; packing of column; pouring of 
sample into the column; elution of fractions, and analysis of each fractions using thin 
layer chromatography. Based on the column chromatographic technique, it was observed 
that in each fraction one band were detected. Qualitative analysis showed that methanol 
extracted almost all the secondary metabolites in all the three aerial parts of the plant. 
After quantification, it was observed that methanol root extract had the highest pheno
lic contents [44.83 µg garlic acid equivalent (GAE)/g], followed by methanol leaf extract 
(38.89 µg GAE/g) and methanol stem bark extract (22.00 µg GAE/g). Root ethyl acetate 
extract (8.19 µg GAE/g), stem bark ethyl acetate extract (13.49 µg GAE/g), and leaves ethyl 
acetate extract (23.66 µg/GAE/g) followed through, while n-hexane extracts were hav
ing a very low phenolic content with n-hexane root (0.66 µg GAE/g), n-hexane stem bark 
extract (2.69 µg GAE/g), and n-hexane leaves extract (7.80 µg GAE/g). The presence of a 
high amount of phytochemical compounds suggests that the A. chevalieri plant has a high 
medicinal value and can be carefully studied to extract the natural compounds which are 
beneficial to human beings and that could be commercialized for higher production than 
using synthetic drugs with side effects. However, depending on the nature of research, 
compounds can be further purified using high-performance liquid chromatography, and 
nuclear magnetic resonance spectral analyses.