PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF SOME SELECTED VARIETIES OF PIPER BETLE L. Original Article K. MYDEEN FATHIMA BEGAM a , P. RAVICHANDRAN b , V. MANIMEKALAI c a,c Department of Botany, Sri Parasakthi College for Women, Courtallam. India, b Received: 25 Dec 2017, Revised and Accepted: 05 Feb 2018 Department of Plant Sciences, Manonmaniam Sundarnar University, Tirunelveli, India Email: mssheikmydeen6@gmail.com ABSTRACT Objective: To Analyse the major phytochemical components in selected varieties of P. betle leaves using GC-MS. Methods: P. betle leaves were shade dried and pulverized to powder in a mechanical grinder. The powder was successively extracted with ethanol (40-60 °C). The extracts were concentrated under reduced pressure in a rotary evaporator. The ethanolic extracts of the plant leaves were used for GC-MS analysis. Results: In the present study ten chemicals were identified and compared from the P. betle varieties, the major component being Eugenol, which is responsible for the flavour and aroma of the leaves. Conclusion: Variety Karpoori possesses the highest content of Eugenol and could be used as a promising variety in the pharmaceutical industry. The components of essential oil can also serve as a determinant to distinguish different varieties of betle vine cultivars. Keywords: GC-MS, Eugenol, Hybrid variety 1, Hybrid variety 2, Jaipur Bangla, Karpoori, Local variety, Sirugamani © 2018 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ijcpr.2018v10i2.25884 INTRODUCTION P. betle is a tropical shade-loving perennial evergreen vine, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkin. It may climb as high as 10-15ft. Sometimes the plant can also grow as a ground cover and it has a growth pattern similar to that of the pepper plant. Leaves are simple, alternate, ovate, cordate, acuminate or acute, entire and bright green. Flowers are dioecious. This plant has male spikes which are dense and cylindrical while female spikes are pendulous. Perianth 0. Stamens 2-4; filaments short; anthers 2 celled, the cells distinct. Ovary 1 celled; ovule solitary, style short or 0, stigma 5. Fruiting spikes up to 5 inches thick, male spikes 3-6 inches long very narrow. Roots arise from each node which aid in fixing the plant to the host tree [1, 2]. Phyto-constituents The leaf contains Water (85-90%), Proteins (3-3.5%), Carbohydrates (0.5-6.1%), Minerals (2.3-3.3%), Fat (0.4-1%), Fibre (2.3%), Essential oil (0.08-0.2%), Tannin (0.1-1.3%), Alkaloid (arakene). It also contains different Vitamins like Vitamin-C (0.005- 0.01%), Nicotinic acid (0.63-0.89 mg/100 gms), Vitamin-A (1.9-2.9 mg/100 gms), Thiamine (10-70μg/100 gms), Riboflavin (1.9- 30μg/100 gms). It also contains minerals such as Calcium (0.2- 0.5%), Iron (0.005-0.007), Iodine (3.4μg/100 gms), Phosphorus (0.05-0.6%), Potassium (1.1-4.6%). Leaves contain bitter compounds that constitute about 0.7-2.6%. The specific strong pungent aromatic flavour in leaves is due to phenol and terpene like bodies [3]. The total phenol content varies in the gender. The male plant contains three-fold higher total phenols content and two-fold higher thiocyanate content as compared to a female plant. The quality of the leaf depends upon the phenolic content, i.e., more the phenolic content better is the leaf quality [4]. Recently many research works show that P. betle leaves contain starch, diastases, sugars and an essential oil composing of safrole, allyl pyrocatechol monoacetate, eugenol, terpinen-4-ol and eugenyl acetate, as the major components [5]. Phytochemical investigation on leaves revealed the presence of Alkaloids, Carbohydrate, Amino acids, Tannins and Steroidal components [6]. The middle part of the main vein contains the largest quantity of Tannin. The terpenoids include 1, 8-cineole, cadinene, camphene, caryophyllene, limonene, pinene, chavicol, allyl pyrocatechol, carvacrol, safrole, eugenol and chavibetol. Eugenol was identified as the antifungal principle in the oil. The fresh new leaves contain much more amount of essential oil diastase enzyme and sugar when compared to old leaves. Chavicol is four times potent as antiseptic agent as compare to carbolic acid [7]. In different countries, the leaves are folded in different ways and generally, some calcium hydroxide is smeared inside. Slices of the dry Areca nut are on the upper left of the leaf and slices of the tender Areca nut on the upper right. The fold on the lower right contains tobacco—a relatively recent introduction. There is archaeological evidence that P. betle leaves have been chewed along with the areca nut since very ancient times. In most countries, the mixture of both has a ceremonial and highly symbolical value [8]. P. betle leaves are chewed together in the wrapped package along with the Areca nut and mineral slaked lime. Catechu called “Kattha” in Hindi and other flavouring substances and spices are also added. The lime acts to keep the active ingredient in its freebase or alkaline form, thus enabling it to enter the bloodstream via sublingual absorption. The Areca nut contains the alkaloid arecoline, which promotes salivation (the saliva is stained red), and is itself a stimulant. This combination, known as a P. betle quid has been used for over thousand years [9]. Properties of the ingredients and their traditional uses P. betle leaf P. betle leaves have a strong pungent aromatic flavour and is widely used as masticators. The presence of a fairly large quantity of diastase in the P. betle leaves is likely to play an important part in starch digestion. Large quantities of saliva produced by chewing P. betle leaf act as digestive and probably the presence of diastase enhance this activity. The leaves contain a good amount of B vitamins (particularly nicotinic acid) ascorbic acid and carotene. P. betle leaf consists of more juice which cures pharyngitis, abdominal pain and abdominal distension. Ordinary P. betle leaf cures urticaria and the effects due to the derangement in the equilibrium of the three senses of humour namely Vatha, Pitha and Kabha. It gives a pleasant odour in the mouth. P. betle leaves possess an anti-oxidant action. The anti-oxidant effect is due to the presence of phenols particularly hydroxychavicol (4-allyl pyrocatechol). The International Journal of Current Pharmaceutical Research ISSN- 0975-7066 Vol 10, Issue 2, 2018