HPTLC QUANTIFICATION OF n-OCTACOSANOL IN TINOSPORA CORDIFOLIA MIERS STEMS OBTAINED FROM DIFFERENT GEOGRAPHICAL REGIONS

n-octacosanol is an normolipidemic aliphatic primary alcohol obtained from the plant Tinospora cordifolia Miers. In the present study, the plant stems were collected from five accessions namely Anniyalam, Chennai, Hassan, Vishakhapatnam and Bangalore between June and August. Later a simple HPTLC method has been established for determination of n-octacosanol in methanolic extracts of all these geographical sources using Toluene: Ethyl acetate: Formic acid (4.5:4.5:1 v/v) as mobile phase. Detection and quantification were performed by densitometric scanning at λ = 555 nm. The results of HPTLC estimation showed variation in n-octacosanol content in all the accessions. The extract from Anniyalam accession showed significantly higher amount of n-octacosanol (6.54%) and that of Vishakhapatnam showed the least (2.28%). Thus, the present work is helpful in selecting genotype of Tinospora cordifolia yielding highest percentage of n-octacosanol. INTRODUCTION: Tinospora cordifolia Miers (Menispermaceae) is widely used in the Indian system of medicine to improve immune system and the body resistance against infections . It is reported to possess antispasmodic, anti-inflammatory, antiallergic and antidiabetic properties. It is generally prescribed in general debility, diabetes, fever, jaundice, skin diseases, rheumatism, urinary diseases, dyspepsia, gout, gonorrhoea and leucorrhoea . It also possesses antineoplastic activity . n-octacosanol isolated from Tinospora is useful in improving endurance and increasing oxygen utilization . Limited studies suggest that n-octacosanol works to reduce blood cholesterol 5 and helps to treat the patients suffering from coronary heart diseases , Parkinson's disease 7, 8, . The variations of chemical constituents are observed in plants belonging to the same species grown in different environmental conditions. These variations may occur due to climatic conditions like altitude, temperature, type of soil etc. The plants collected from different geographical sources have shown similar morphological characters but difference in content of secondary cell constituents. Correspondence to Author: