e-ISSN: 2320-0189 p-ISSN: 2347-2308 RRJBS | Volume 2 | Issue 4 | October-December, 2013 29 Research and Reviews: Journal of Botanical Sciences Evaluation of Phytochemical Constituents from Stems of Memecylon umbellatum Brum. F. by GC-MS Analysis. Subban Murugesan 1 * and Annamalai Panneerselvam 2 1 Department of Botany, Periyar University, Periyar Palkalai Nagar, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. 2 Department of Botany and Microbiology, A.V.V.M. Sri Pushpam College (Autonomous), Poondi - 613 503, Thanjavur District., Tamil Nadu, India. Research Article Received: 07/09/2013 Revised: 17/09/2013 Accepted: 20/09/2013 *For Correspondence Department of Botany, Periyar University, Periyar Palkalai Nagar, Salem, Tamil Nadu, India. Keywords: Memecylon umbellatum, medicinal plant, phyto-chemical constituents, GC- MS analysis. ABSTRACT A valuable Indian ethnomedicinal plant, Memecylon umbellatum was investigated for GC-MS (Gas chromatography- Mass spectrophotometry) analysis to determine the chemical constituent present in various extracts of stem. Powdered stem plant materials was subjected to successive extract on with organic solvents such as petroleum ether, chloroform and ethanol by soxhlet extraction method. Totally, 20 different compound from chloroform extract, 11 different compounds from petroleum ether extract and 10 various compounds from ethanol extract were identified. All the compounds identified medicinally valuable for the treatment of various human ailments.in addition, all the phytochemical compounds were needed further investigation on toxological aspects for the development of new lead of therapeutic interest. INTRODUCTION Nearly, 95 % of plants used in traditional medicines are collected from forests and other natural sources. The plants collected from different sources show wide disparity in therapeutic values and also much variation in market rates. In the recent years, there has been greater expansion of indigenous drug industry in India. Consequently, the demand for the new material (medicinal plants) has enormously increased. According to latest estimate, there are about eight thousand licensed pharmacies of ISM in the country, engaged in the manufacture of bulk drugs to meet the requirement of people. The total annual requirement of the raw materials of these pharmacies was estimated to be thousands of quintals. This is presently met by cutting trees in the forest or uprooting herbs and shrubs either on nominal payment or unauthorized. Further, there is prime need to provide authentic or genuine drugs to manufacture standard medicine, as emphasized by earlier worker Singh and Ghouse [1] . The annual demand of the global market is $32 million of medicinal plants from developing countries. The herbal drug production in our country has been estimated to be rupees 4,000 crores in the year 2000. Out of 15,000 - 20,000 medicinal plants, our rural communities use 7,000 - 7,500 medicinal plants. About 130 pure compounds, which are extracted from 100 species of higher plants of Indian origin, are used throughout the world. India can play a major role for supplying the raw herbs, standardized extracted materials and pure compounds isolated from natural resources [2] . Traditional medicinal plants have been the origin and basis of pharmacology and therapeutics and played an important role in drug discovery. For these reason, ethnobotany and traditional medicine may still be a useful strategy and a valuable tool for future pharmaceutical research [3] . Several active compounds were discovered based on the ethnomedicines. Based on the ethnomedicinal information, a total of 122 compounds were identified and 80% of these compounds were used for the same (or related) ethnomedicinal purposes [4] . Further, it was discovered that these compounds were derived from only 94 species of plants [5] . Some of the prominent commercial plant-based medicinal compounds include colchicum, colchicine, betulinic acid, camptothecin, topotecan, CPT-11, 9-aminocamptothecin, delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, beta lapachone, lapachol, podophyllotoxin, etoposide, podophyllinic acid, vinblastine, vincristine, vindesine vinorelbine, docetaxel, paclitaxel, tubocurarine, pilocarpine, scopolamine among others. Recently, there has been a remarkable revival in the use of ethnomedicines in many western countries, partly as a result of rising interest in