HPTLC-A simple and sensitive method to characterize thirty chemotypes and total alkaloid content in Ashwagandha (W. Somnifera)

Withania somnifera is not just a name of a herb, it is a multipurpose medicine ranging from a curative agent for cardiovascular disease, cancer, reproductive health care etc. Dried roots and leaves from 30 genotypes collected from nearby States of Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Rajasthan were extracted using HPTLC for generating chromatograms. Chromatograms were developed using solvent system consisting of chloroform: methanol (90:10) for methanolic extracts while a mobile phase consisted of toluene: ethyl acetate: formic acid (75:18:7) on precoated TLC aluminum plates Si60F254 for all the thirty genotypes. The HPTLC profile of leaves phytochemicals resulted in grouping of various genotypes in five clusters and four clusters using roots. The genotypes collected did not reveal distinct cluster based on their collection sites, instead were interspersed with each other similar to earlier reports and our previous investigation using TLC. The present research revealed presence of different components in different genotypes. Still the steroidal lactones withaferin-A and withanolide- A reported by earlier researchers were found in maximum genotypes irrespective of their locations.