preliminary phytochemical screening

Medicinal plants and their secondary metabolites have been used since last few centuries as remedies to treat diseases and disorders. As per WHO report (1993), 80% of world population continues to depend on medicine isolated from medicinal plants. Presently there is an increasing interest in herbal medicine related to isolation, characterization and pharmacological screening of extracts obtained from medicinal plants. The ethanolic extract of Leucas indica var. martinicensis was studied for preliminary phytochemical screening and anthelmintic activity at various concentrations (i.e., 10mg/ml, 25mg/ml, 50mg/ml, 100mg/ml) by using adult Indian earth worm, pheretima posthuma from in nalgonda region. Phytochemical Screening revealed the presence of Alkaloids, carbohydrates, and saponins. The mean paralysis time and mean death time for each sample was calculated and compared with the Albendazole which is taken as standard. The result was found that Leucas indica var. martinicensis had an anthelmintic activity which was greater than standard Albendazole.