Phytochemical analysis of crude leaf extracts of Rosmarinus Officinalis l. (rosemary)

Abstract

Phytochemicals are chemicals produced by plants through primary and secondary metabolism. (Higdon, 2007) They have biological activity in the plant host and play a role in plant growth or defense against competitors, pathogens, or predators. Phytochemicals are non-nutritive plant chemicals that have protective or disease preventive properties. Phytochemical under research can be classified into major categories such as carotenoids and polyphenols, which include phenolic acids, flavonoids, stilbenes or lignans. There is also a knowledge gap about the composition of phytochemicals which are responsible for medicinal properties in Rosemary. Therefore this research will contribute to the existing information about rosemary phytochemical composition and evidence as a medicinal plant. To screen and analyse the phytochemical components in Rosmarinus officinalis L. (Rosemary) leaf extract. Extraction of Rosmarinus officinalis L. (Rosemary) phytochemical compounds has been done using solvents namely ethanol and methanol which are widely used in Laboratories as solvents. All the phytochemical compounds present in Rosmarinus officinalis L. leaves were dictated by semi quantitative analysis which has been done with the help of thin layer chromatography (TLC) which shows the efficiency of every individual solvent to extract compounds from Rosmarinus officinalis L. Thin layer chromatography can physically separate the compounds from pure extracts hence this method is preferred for analysis purpose. The retention factor values were calculated and related to those values obtained from literature for phytochemicals like Phenol, Saponins and Akaloids. Quantitative analysis by spectrophotometric method using Gallic acid standard as a standard helped in extrapolation of phenolic content that appeared to be of huge quantity than the rest of the phytochemicals having 14mg/g of the leaf from the results obtained.