COMPARISON IN VARIOUS BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS OF LEAVES AND SEEDS OF FOENICULUM VULGARE Mill

 

Gulfraz, M*., M. Arshad*, N. Uzma**, Kanwal** and K. Shabir**

 

* Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry

** M.Sc. Students, Department of Biochemistry

 

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants a gift of nature are being used against various infections  and  diseases in the subcontinent since past history. Herbs were use as food  ( vegetables ) and flavors  for hundred of years in many parts of world. Whereas number of herbs have also been traditionally regarded as natural remedies for common ailments of human population. Furthermore some  herbal plants  are considered as house of medicines and   played an important role in nearly every culture on earth, including Asia, Africa, Europe and the Americas.  A study was conducted to analyze the   Leaves and  seeds  of Foeniculum vulgare for different bioactive compounds those  includes  saponins ,  total proteins,   amino acids,   fat and flavonoids with one and two dimensional thin layer and column chromatography followed by spectrophotometric  analysis.  Results indicates that  leaves  contained higher concentration of flavonoids  and fat. Where as  level  of  Saponins,   proteins, amino acids, total minerals  and other organic compounds was high  in seeds. The analysis of leave and seeds of Foeniculum vulgare for these valuable organic compounds   will provide   important raw materials that can be used for preparation of medicines in Pharmaceuticals companies. Furthermore interest of people in  plant made medicines are  increasing due  to  their  concern about the side effects of powerful synthetic drugs and high prices  of  these medicines.   It is expected that   raw material   obtained from plants will not only reduce the prices of medicines in the pharmaceutical market but also provide rapid and reliable  system of treatment of various infection and disease of human population

 

Key words ; Foeniculum vulgare, medicinal plants, chemical analysis.

 

INTRODUCTION

Approximately 80% of the words population depends exclusively on plants for their health and healing. Where as  in the developed world, reliance on surgery and pharmaceutical medicine is more usual but in the recent year, more and more people are complementing their treatment with natural supplements. (Dursum et al.  2004). Furthermore motivation of people towards herbs are increasing due to their concern about the side effects of drugs, those are prepared from synthetic materials.   The people want to concern   their own health rather than merely submitting themselves to impersonal health care system.  Many botanicals and some common dietary supplements are good sources of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds (Leung and Foster, 1996:   Nadkarni, 1976)

 

Pakistan is rich in herbal plants  wealth especially in the northern and sub mountainous areas.  Almost 2,000 medicinal plant species exist in Pakistan whereas a huge number of plants need further identification on the basis of their uses. However,  few of these are exploited and more than 90% of the country’s requirement for medicinal herb are imported from other countries. whereas over 50% of the population in Pakistan is being treated with traditional medicines by almost 50,000 traditional local herbal practitioners and hakims  (Zaidi, 998).

 

Foeniculum vulgare belongs to family Apiaceae, which  is an annual, biennial or perennial aromatic herb, depending on the variety ( Farrell, 1985: Wichtl and Bisset, 1994).   It is a source of Phytochemicals  hormones (saponins),   Proteins,  amino  acids,  fats,  flavonoids  and many other organic compounds .while all of these organic compounds  are important  for  various purposes of  human population. The use of  these secondary compounds  of  plants for the treatment of human’s ailments is indeed very old  ( Aritomi and Kawasaki, 1984 : Miura  et al. 1986 ).

 

Foeniculum vulgare commonly known as fennel and  develops an edible bulb  contained  thick  base  leaves, which is becoming increasing popular as a  vegetable. The leaves, stalks and seeds (fruits) of the plant species are edible. It is used as carminative, digestive, lactogogue and diuretic (Matin et al, 2002). However, Foeniculum vulgare is an aromatic herb whose fruits are oblong, ellipsoid or cylindrical, straight or slightly curved and greenish or yellowish brown in colour. The weight of  between 6 and 7 mg  where as length is   6 mm  and  width  2mm. The dried, aromatic fruits are widely employed in culinary preparations for flavoring bread,  pastry and  candies. It is also  use in alcohol liqueurs, as well as in cosmetic and medicinal preparations. (Bernth, 1998: Matin et al, 2002).   This herb has finely out feathery foliage, umbels of mid summer flowers, curved, ribbed seeds and a thick root. It is used as an expensive and extravagant spice and vegetable in different parts of world. Its seeds contain essential oil, which is used for many purposes by human population  (Tanira, 1996:  Leung and Foster, 1996).The oil of Foeniculum vulgare regulates the peristaltic functions of the gastrointestinal tract,  thereby reducing emptying time and increasing the passage of gas. It also relieves the spasm of intestines. It was experimentally observed that Foeniculum seeds are effective against hernias and hydrocele when used with other salts or ingredients. (Fathy  et al. 2002 : Ethernton   et al. 2002 ).

 

Therefore keeping in view the importance of Foeniculum vulgare the present study was undertaken with following aims and objectives.

.          To analyze bioactive compounds in leave  and  seeds of Foeniculum  vulgare.

            To assess the Foeniculum leave and  seeds for Saponin   and Flavonoids.

            To   highlight  effects  of Foeniculum on health of human population.

MATERIALS AND METHODS:-

Collection  and  Preparation of Leave and  Seeds Samples

The leave and seeds samples of Foeniculum vulgare were analysed for various organic compounds in this study. The leaves and seeds were collected from different hilly areas nearby Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Sixty samples of leaves and seeds were dried and crushed into powdered form. The prepared samples were stored at room temperature for further process for separation of chemical compounds.

 

Analysis of Total  Protein, Amino acid and Lipids from Leaves and Seeds of Foeniculum vulgare

The total protein content of leaves and seeds were determine by using kjeldahal method whereas total lipid content were determined by taking ether extraction by soxhlet apparatus whereas percentage of lipid was determined by calculating initial and final weight of samples.

 
Analysis of Protein and Amino acids by Thin Layer Chromatography

The purified samples of leaves and seeds of Foeniculum vulgare were subjected to one and two dimensional thin layer chromatography. Furthermore the Rf values of each amino acid was calculated and compared with standard values.

 

Analysis of Flavonoids and Saponins

The analysis of flavonoid and saponins from leaves and seeds of Foeniculum were carried out in the column chromatography by using silica gel. The columns were washed with various solvents ( Diethyl ether,n-propanol,ethanol and methanol etc.) on the basis of their polarity order.( Aritomi and Kawaski,1984: Gulfraz et al. 2004). Furthermore  100 grams of samples has provided about 10 grams of  purified (Flavonoid  or Saponin ) compounds.

 

Furthermore all chemicals used in this study were analytical grade (Sigma and Merck ) and were imported from abroad.

 

 

Foeniculum vulgare  in the flowering season

 

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

The results of flavonoids, saponins, proteins, amino acids, fats etc are given in the tables 1-6. Whereas comparison of various compounds in both leaves  and seeds are given in figures  1-2.

 

Results obtained after analysis of leaves and seeds of Foeniculum vulgare indicates that flavonoids , saponins, proteins,  amino acid  and fats were present in these samples.The leaves contained higher concentration of flavonoids  and fat.  Whereas the level of saponins, protein, amino acids and other organic compounds were high in seeds. (Tables 1-6 and Figs 1-2) .  The seeds of Foeniculum are considered as essential ingredients for many local medicines those can used against stomach, kidney and liver infection and disorders. (Etherton, 2002: Matin et al. 2002). The  organic compounds obtained from seeds will further increase the market values of these valuable medicinal plants. The younger and fresh leaves are consider as delicious and traditional vegetables  in many areas of   this region  (Karnick,1998) . Furthermore  Seeds (fruits) are  being use in all most all of houses   of this region for many purposes of human population,  whereas leaves are mostly used as vegetables either  cooked or in the form of  salad.( Zaidi,1998 )

 

 

                                               

 

                    

            Figure 1                                              Figure 2                                  Figure 3

Figure 1: Phytohormones (Saponin)  extracted from seed of Foeniculum  Vulgare

Figure 2: Flavonoids extracted from leaf of Foeniculum  Vulgare

Figure 3: Proteins extracted from seeds of Foeniculum  Vulgare

Table   1 : The  Percentage  (%)  of   different chemical compounds in  leave  and seeds of

Foeniculum  Vulgare

Chemical compounds

 

seeds

Leave

 

 

Dry matter

81.10

75.6

Total protein

24.12

18.5

Total fat

20.90

25.6

Total fiber

9.50

11.5

Total mineral

9.50

12.5

Moisture

8.90

20.5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table   2  : The  Percentage (%)   of    Saponins  in  leave  and seeds of Foeniculum  Vulgare.

 

Sample

seeds

Leave

1

31.10

25.1

2

33.12

15.5

3

30.10

25.4

4

29.50

11.9

5

19.20

12.5

6

38.16

20.6

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table   3  : The  Percentage (%) of    Flovonoids   in  leave  and seeds of Foeniculum  Vulgare.

 

Sample

 

seeds

Leave

1

26.17

46.14

2

17.10

37.19

3

14.16

34.16

4

9.20

39.20

5

11..25

29.25

6

8.16

38.17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table   4  : The  Percentage of    Amino acids   in  leave  and seeds of Foeniculum  Vulgare.

Amino acids

Rf Values of

Seeds

Leave

Glycine

0.45

0.48

Lecuine

0.65

0.58

Isoleucine

0.78

0.75

Proline

0.57

0.51

Phenylanine

0.47

0.49

Tryptophane

0.58

0.52

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table  5 : Spectrophotometeric  analysis  ( 470 nm) of leave of Foeniculum Vulgar  after

extraction of various compounds with different solvents.

 

Solvents

Compounds

Concentration

Absorbance at470nm

PH

Diethyl ether

1

1.718

1.704

7.5

 

2

1.556

1.566

7.4

 

3

1.136

1.136</