Preliminary Physico-phytochemical Study of Stem Bark of Alstonia Scholaris (l.) R. Br. – a Medicinal Plant

Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. is a plant of family Apocynaceae and has a great medicinal importance. It is widely used by tribal people to treat various diseases and ailments. The present communication deals with the organoleptic and preliminary physico-phytochemical studies of the stem bark of the plant. The organoleptic study was done according to the W.H.O. guidelines for medicinal plants. The physicochemical parameters viz. loss on drying, ash values and extractive values were calculated. Soxhlet extraction of the powdered plant material was done with 80% ethanol and then partitioned with petroleum ether, ethyl acetate and n-butanol subsequently. The percentage yields of different solvent fractions were calculated and then they were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening which indicated the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, tannins, terpenoids, saponins, flavonoids, steroids and fixed oils and fats. INTRODUCTION: Medicinal plants have been used for years in daily life to treat diseases all over the world. Interest in medicinal plants reflects the recognition of the validity of many traditional claims regarding the value of natural products in healthcare . Numerous useful drugs have been discovered from higher plants by following up ethnomedical practices . Alstonia scholaris (L.) R. Br. is an important medicinal plant in folklore medicine. The plant belongs to family Apocynaceae and is native to India. It grows throughout India, in deciduous and ever-green forests and in plains. Juice of leaves and tincture of the bark acts as a powerful galactogogue and also used in cases of snake bite. Milky juice of the plant is applied on wounds and ulcers. The bark is bitter, acrid, astringent, digestive, laxative, thermogenic, antipyretic, galactogogue, cardiotonic and tonic. It is useful in abdominal disorders, fevers, leprosy, skin diseases, chronic and foul ulcers, asthma, bronchitis and helminthiasis . The bark extract induces the cellular immune response at low doses and inhibited the delayed type of hypersensitivity reaction at high doses . The methanolic extract of this plant exhibits pronounced antiplasmodial activity . The alkaloid fraction of A. scholaris was found to have potential anticancer agent . It’s bark extract showed chemopreventive potential against skin tumorigenesis in swiss albino mice . Ethanolic extracts of A. scholaris possess powerful in-vitro antioxidant activity . The plant possesses valuable medicinal properties but most of the advantages are still confined to tribal areas because of raw knowledge and absence of proper scientific standardization. For the useful application of the plant parts in modern medicine, physico-chemical