ABSTRACT

Moringa plant has been used widely for its nutritional and therapeutic value. Different parts of the plant such as leaves, bark, stem roots, seeds and flowers are used for these purposes. In Pakistan the use of moringa plants is not very common, however, due to some scientific work and subsequent promotion by some workers its use is gaining importance day by day. The current study has been undertaken to scientifically explore some aspects of the plant particularly leaves and bark by using microscopic, spectroscopic and chromatographic techniques. The microscopic studies have shown that leaves consist of epidermal, xylem, phloem and lower epidermal layers composed of numerous cells whereas the bark consist of the cork cells, cork cambium and secondary cortex layers respectively. Distinct FTIR spectra have been obtained on the powdered samples of the plant material. The UV spectra of the plant material in various solvents such as 1N HCl, 1N NaOH, Methanol and Ethanol have shown varying absorption maxima indicating the extraction of different constituents in these solvents. The Thin layer chromatography (TLC) studies under standard conditions with mobile phase of methanol: Ammonia (100:1.5, v/v) have shown the separation of vitamin B2 and B6 only whereas the HPLC have cause separation of vitamin B1, B2, B3, B6 and vitamin C. Drying and extraction processes have impacted the contents of water soluble vitamins in the plant material. Keywords: Moringa oleifera, FTIR, UV spectroscopy, TLC, Water soluble vitamins

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https://doi.org/10.31032/IJBPAS/2019/8.5.4613