ESTIMATION OF CHLOROPHYLL PIGMENTS AND STUDIES ON THEIR MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF SELECTED 10 MEDICINAL PLANTS

P. Mathiarasi*, Dr. D. Amish Abragam, S. Vijila and Jeyaseelan

ABSTRACT

Leaves are a mandatory organ for higher plants which are autotraphs supply own energy needs to convert the radiant energy into chemical energy. Leaf chlorophyll content provides valuable information about physiological status of plants and mainly serves as to food production by photosynthesis. Chlorophylls are virtually essential pigments for the conversion of light energy to stored chemical energy. The absolute amounts of the pigments as well as their ratio are important physiological characteristics of the leaf, whole plant, and plant communities. Chlorophyll bears antioxidant properties which can be used in herbal medicinal drug discovery. Our objective was to estimate the chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll from the selected10 medicinal plants namely Acalypha indica, Croton sparsiflorus, Caesalpinia pulcherima, Cloeme viscose, Euphorbia hirta, Indicofera dinctoria, Phyllanthus nirurii, Phaseolus vulgaris, Ricinus communis, Vicia faba and phyllanthus nirurii shows the highest amount of total chlorophyll content among the other selected medicinal plants The chlorophyll content can directly determine photosynthetic potential and primary production . In addition, chlorophyll, which is a potential cancer preventative agent that has drawn significant attention recently. It is also used as a food-coloring agent and known as natural green 3(chlorophyllin), and it has the E number E141. Chlorophyll also gives an indirect estimation of the nutrient status because much of leaf nitrogen is incorporated in chlorophyll pigments mainly chl a chl b pigments.

Keywords: Chlorophyll, Herbal medicine, Light energy, Pigments, Photosynthesis.