ISSN 2320-5407 International Journal of Advanced Research (2015), Volume 3, Issue 12, 1145 – 1150 1145 Journal homepage: http://www.journalijar.com INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED RESEARCH RESEARCH ARTICLE Preliminary Phytochemical analysis of Root Extracts of Coleus forskohlii Briq: Poornima Atulkar 1 , Ritu Thakur 2 , Pratibha Singh 3 Department of Botany, Sarojini Naidu Girls Government P.G.(Autonomous) College Bhopal (M.P.), India. Manuscript Info Abstract Manuscript History: Received: 12 October 2015 Final Accepted: 25 November 2015 Published Online: December 2015 Key words: *Corresponding Author Coleus forskohlii is an important medicinal plant which are used in many multiple medicinal purposes as antispasmodic, stimulant and stomachic and is used for the treatment of headache, fever, epilepsy and dyspepsia. It is used to treat conditions such as indigestion, diarrhoea, nervous tension, insect bites, toothache, earache, rheumatism, whooping cough, and bronchitis. The present study was aimed to investigate the phytochemical analysis of Coleus forskohlii root. The root extracts of Coleus forskohlii were prepared using different solvents like petroleum ether, ethanol, Chloroform and distilled water and the phytochemical screening was performed. The highest phytoconstituent were present in ethanol extract such as alkaloids, Carbohydrate, quinones, phenols, tannins, terpenoids, glycosides, steroids and saponins and terpenoids compared to other extract. Copy Right, IJAR, 2015,. All rights reserved INTRODUCTION Herbal medicine has been practiced worldwide and is now recognized as an essential building block for primary healthcare Onayede, et.al (1909). Anatomical character of powdered drug have become an important tool for identifying authentic drugs since, adulteration of both drugs and food articles has become very common. Quality control of a crude drug and its pharmaceuticals can be attempt by different methods of evaluation depending upon the morphological and microscopical studies of the crude drugs and their physical, chemical and biological behaviour Felix, et.al (2009). Coleus is a name which derived from an earlier classification under the genus name Coleus which is currently included in either Solenostemon or another genus Plectranthus. The word Coleus came from the Greek “koleus, meaning sheath. It was studied that there are 150 species were considered to be originated from Himalaya of Kumaon in Nepal, Bihar and Deccan peninsular of south India as well as Srilanka. It has been distributed to Egypt, Arabia, Ethiopia, Tropical East Africa and Brazil. It is a genus of perennial plants, native to tropical Africa, Asia, Australia, The East Indies, The Malay Archipelago, and the Philippines. It is commonly known as “Indian/ country borage” and „Pathorchur‟ in Hindi and Bengali Kumar et.al (2007). It was recorded in the Indian system of medicine as one of the sources of Pashanabheda Chopra et.al (1956). In India, the plant was found on dry, barren hills at an altitude of about 2400 m with moderate rainfall of 400-500 mm and a mean annual temperature of 18-27°C. The crop is being commercially grown in large area in Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Coleus forskohlii is a perennial plant that grows to about 45-60 cm tall and aromatic in nature. It has four angled stems that are branched and nodes are often hairy. Leaves are 7.5 to 12.5 cm in length and 3 to 5 cm in width, usually pubescent, narrowed into petioles. Inflorescence is raceme, 15-30 cm in length, flowers are stout, 2 to 2.5 cm in size, usually perfect and calyx hairy inside. Many cultivators of the Southeast Asian species Coleus have been selected for their colourful variegated