A study on therapeutic potential and phytochemical screening of charcoal tree (Trema orientalis)

Abstract

Plants served as asignificant source of traditional medicine used to cure human illness. Numerousplant nutritional benefits have been discussed in literature, but there isrelatively very limited research that has been done on biologically activechemicals present in Trema orientalis. With the help of the Soxhletapparatus, the extraction of sample from the bark and leaf of Tremaorientalis was done. Distilled water, methanol and ethanol were used assolvents. After the phytochemical screening of the extract, we found the testpositive for glycoside, saponin, tannin, coumarin, terpenoids, and phenol,which implies their presence in Trema orientalis. These are thenon-nutritive parts that have inhibitory properties against neurologicaldisorder, microbes, malaria, cancer and inflammation etc. It is traditionallyused for the prevention of cough, fever, diarrhea, toothache, and pneumonia andfor different digestive issues. The wood of Trema orientalis wastraditionally used in the making gunpowder. In view of its rare occurrence inWestern Odisha, it holds a great promise for further research for identifyingbioactive molecules that can be used as novel medicines