European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

TECTARIA WIGHTII (C.B.CLARKE) CHING- A FERN WITH PHYTOCHEMICAL AND PHARMACOGNOSTIC POTENTIAL

Vineesh T. V.*, Habeeb Rahiman U. and Venugopalakrishna Kurup V.

ABSTRACT

Pteridophytes are the sources of important therapeutic aids for alleviating human ailments. Tectaria wightii (C. B. Clarke) Ching. belonging to family Dryopteridaceae is one of the medicinally important pteridophyte used on insect bites or getting relief in centipede bite. The extraction of dried rhizome is also used as anthelmintic activity, stomach pains, gastrointestinal disorders, eradications of worms in children. Thus the present investigation to understand the bioactive compounds in the rhizome of T. wightii. It reveals that 16 bioactive compounds were identified from the methanolic extract of rhizome of T. wightii. These different active compounds have been found to possess a wide range of activities, which may help in the protection against incurable diseases. Ferns are an important phytogenetic bridge between lower and higher plants. Historically they have been used in many ways by humans, including as ornamental plants, domestic utensils, foods, and in handicrafts. In addition, they have found uses as medicinal herbs. Ferns produce a wide array of secondary metabolites endowed with different bioactivities that could potentially be useful in the treatment of many diseases. However, there is currently relatively little information in the literature on the phytochemicals present in ferns and their pharmacological applications.

Keywords: Tectaria wightii, Fern, Phytochemistry, Phytogenetic, Halberd fern, GC-MS analysis.