V.B. Kadam et al IJCPS, 2013: Vol.1(5): 362-364 Int. J. Chem. Pharm. Sci., 362 Available online at www.pharmaresearchlibrary.com/ijcps ISSN: 2321-3132 International Journal of Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences IJCPS, 2013: Vol.1(5): 362-364 www.pharmaresearchlibrary.com/ijcps Determination of alkaloid and lipid content in some medicinal plants of Genus Sesbania V.B. Kadam* 1 , M.V. Mali 1 , U.B. Kadam 2 , V.B. Gaikwad 3 1 P.G.Department of Botany and research Centre, K.T.H.M.College, Nashik-422 002 2 P.G.Department of Chemistry and Research Centre, M.S.G.College, Malegaon 3 Director, B.C.U.D. Pune University, Pune, India. *E-mail: drvbkadam@yahoo.com Introduction Nature has bestowed upon us a very rich botanical wealth and a large number of diverse type of plants grow wild in different parts of our country. In India, the use of different parts of several medicinal plants to cure specific ailments has been vogue from ancient times. Though at present Indian health care delivery consists of both traditional and modem systems of medicines, both organized traditional systems of medicine like Ayurveda, Siddha and Unani and unorganized systems like folk medicine have been flourishing well. These two systems of medicine use plants, minerals, metals and animals as source of drugs, plants being the major source. It is estimated that roughly 1500 plant species in Ayurveda and 1200 plant species in Siddha have been used for drug preparation (Jain, 1987). In Indian folk medicine use, about 7500 plant species are recorded as medicinal plants (Anonymous, 1996). A plant species grown in different geographical localities also show quantitative variation in their chemical constituent (Mallavarapuet, et.al., 1995). The genuses Sesbania belong to the family Leguminosae. Member of the genus Sesbania are known for exceptionally fast growing rates as well as a very high affinity for association with several nitrogen fixing Rhizobia in the soil. All human beings require a number of complex organic/inorganic compounds in diet to meet the need for their activities. The important constituents of diet are carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, minerals and water (Indrayan et al., 2005). Every constituent plays an important role and deficiency of any one constituent may lead to abnormal developments in the body. Plants are the rich source of all the elements essential for human beings. (New Wall et.al., 1996). Medicinal plants have been used as traditional treatments for numerous human diseases for thousands of years. Today is a renewed interest in traditional medicine and an increasing demand for more drugs from plant sources. Lipids are organic compounds that include fats, waxes, phospholipids, glyco lipids and sterols. All of them are present in almost every living cell. Lipids are insoluble in water but soluble in organic solvents like alcohol and chloroform. Alkaloids represent group of secondary metabolites produced in plants. About 2500 alkaloids contain nitrogen in heterocyclic ring and these are basic in nature. They are usually found in plants as salts of organic acid and exhibit important pharmacological properties. Sesbania rostrata as an important dietary nutritive source in Southeast Asian country’s. Sesbania rostrata are richest source of amino acid, minerals and antioxidants vitamins. This species is unique because it fixes nitrogen not only in its roots in the soil, but also in its aerial parts including stems and branches (Dutt et.al., 1983). Various parts of this plant are used in Indian traditional medicine for the treatment of diuretic, emetic, fevers, headaches, anemia, Abstract The seasonal variation of alkaloids has been investigated in leaf, bark and wood of Sesbania rostrata, Sesbania exaltata and Sesbania sesban, which are medicinally important. The leaves of Sesbania rostrata showed high level of lipid content (range 29.14 to 31.86 mg/g dry wt.) than Sesbania exaltata and Sesbania sesban (26.53 to 28.45 mg/g dry wt. and 22.78 to 24.60 mg/g dry wt.) respectively. The leaves of Sesbania rostrata showed high level of alkaloid (1.90 to 2.69 mg/g dry wt.) than Sesbania exaltata and Sesbania sesban (1.78 to 2.40 mg/g dry wt. and 1.34 to 1.92 mg/g dry wt.) respectively. Key words: Lipid, Alkaloid, Medicinal plant and genus Sesbania Research Article