SCREENING OF CLASS OF PHYTOCHEMICAL COMPOUNDS AND ANTIOXIDANT AUTORADIOGRAPHIC EVALUATION IN PARIS POLYPHYLLA AND TRILLIUM GOVANIANUM USING HIGHPERFORMANCE THIN-LAYER CHROMATOGRAPHY (HPTLC)

Paris polyphylla and Trillium govanianum are medicinally important Himalayan plants known for their ethnopharmacological applications, particularly in traditional medicine for anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and anticancer uses. The present study employs High-Performance Thin-Layer Chromatography (HPTLC) to identify major classes of phytochemicals present in dried powdered samples of these species. Qualitative HPTLC screening was performed using CAMAG HPTLC instrumentation with nine reagent systems targeting major classes of compounds, including flavonoids, glycosides, steroids, sterols, essential oils, saponins, terpenoids, anthraquinones, and phenolic compounds. The results confirmed the presence of essential oils, saponins, triterpenoids, steroids, sterols, glycosides, and flavonoids in both species, whereas anthraquinones and phenolic compounds were absent. Additional DPPH assay indicated significant antioxidant band responses in both plant extracts. The findings demonstrate similarity in phytochemical composition between both species, justifying their reported medicinal equivalence in traditional medicine.