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Introduction
Plants synthesize multifarious secondary compounds which are known to display potential roles in food industry, as therapeutics, in fragrances, cosmetics, environmental and medical applications.1 Based on their chemical nature, these phytocompounds are grouped into terpenes involving terpenoid compounds, polyphenolic compounds such as phenols, flavanoids, coumarins, lignins and tannins, sulphur containing compounds such as glucosinolates and nitrogen containing compounds such as alkaloids, cyanogenic glucosides and so.2-5 These compounds exert numerous pharmacological functions like antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, antidiabetic activity also, are utilized for treating hypertension, cardiovascular problems, arthritis, against several ailments thereby emphasizing the usage and effectiveness of different herbs in traditional medicine.6-8Plant derived phytocomponents serve as a great source of drugs and since their nature is of much complexity there arises a necessity to isolate and purify these individual compounds to further analyze and assess their structural as well as functional properties.9 Thin layer chromatography and column chromatography are among such commonly used techniques which aid in the separation of active constituents from a crude mixture of plant extracts. It can be achieved through an optimal solvent system comprising either a single solvent or a mix of different solvents in varying ratios. Efficient migration of these compounds is also dependent on its nature, polarity and interaction with the stationary phase used. It can be visualized under light source or by spraying with chemical reagents.10Gas chromatographic and mass spectrometric analysis is among the major and rapidly exploited technique which helps in identifying and quantifying the phytochemicals present in the plant extracts as well as in the purified fractions such as esters, alkaloids, fatty acids, volatile oils etc.11-14 Thus, numerous pharmacologically active compounds can be isolated from a single plant sample that could contribute towards an in depth understanding about the type of constituents present as well as their utility and beneficial importance towards multitudinous applications.
In this study, ethanol crude extracts from Mangifera indica L., Piper betle L. and Lawsonia inermis L., leaves were purified by column chromatography using an optimized solvent system containing hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and methanol in a specific ratio as the mobile phase and the fractions thus obtained were resolved in TLC and suitable fractions from all three samples were analyzed...