European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

EVALUATION OF PIPERINE CONTENT FROM UN-EXPLORED LEAF PARTS OF PIPER LONGUM LINN

Manisha Mohapatra and Uday Chand Basak*

ABSTRACT

The Ayurvedic formulation “Pippali” we intake during Cold, Cough and Asthma is generally prepared from the fruit and root of the plant Piper longum. Its main active constituent is Piperine, the well known alkaloid, frequently used for preparation of several drug formulations in medicament industries. But in this experimentation the active ingredient Piperine is being searched from its leaf parts of Piper longum plant of Piperaceae family through spectrophotometric and high performance liquid chromatography methods. Leaf samples were extracted through cold-stirring method using different solvent systems. Piperine content was estimated to be within the range of 0.032-0.078% dry weight through spectrophotometric analysis and 0.018-0.054% dry weight through HPLC analysis. From this experiment it could be opined that the leaf parts of P. longum also contains piperine. This validated new result would be helpful in finding suitable alternate non-destructive source of piperine, which will lessen the threat status of the concerned species.

Keywords: HPLC, Leaf, Piper longum, piperine, Spectrophotometer.