A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW OF ABUTILON INDICUM LEAVES: EXTRACTION PROCEDURES, PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, ANALYTICAL TECHNIQUES AND PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES

Abutilon indicum (L.) Sweet, sometimes called thuthi or Indian mallow, is a medicinal plant long used for a variety of therapeutic purposes. Although different parts of the plant have been studied, the leaves are particularly important because of their accessibility, traditional use, and diverse secondary metabolites. This review focuses specifically on the leaves of A. indicum, covering extraction methods, phytochemical analysis, analytical techniques, and experimentally reported pharmacological activities. Flavonoids, phenolic compounds, tannins, alkaloids, saponins, steroids, glycosides, terpenoids, and other bioactive components have been identified in leaf extracts. A number of variables, including temperature, plant preparation, solvent polarity, extraction time, and post-extraction processing, affect extraction efficiency. While newer techniques like ultrasound-assisted and microwave-assisted extraction offer alternatives for increasing extraction efficiency, traditional techniques like maceration, Soxhlet extraction, and aqueous extraction have been frequently used. The chemical makeup of the leaves has been examined using a variety of analytical methods, such as preliminary phytochemical testing, UV-visible spectroscopy, TLC/HPTLC, HPLC, GC-MS, FTIR, and NMR. Pharmacological studies have reported antioxidant, antibacterial, hepatoprotective, analgesic, anti–inflammatory, antidiabetic and cytotoxic activities of leaf preparations. However, differences in extraction procedures, geographical origin, plant authentication, chemical standardization and experimental conditions make comparison between studies difficult. Future research should focus on validated extraction methods, chemical fingerprinting, quantitative marker compounds, pharmacokinetic studies, toxicity evaluation an well-designed clinical investigations. All things considered, A. indicum leaves are a promising source of bioactive phytochemicals, even though their therapeutic potential is still being investigated and needs more scientific validation.