Chemical Fingerprinting of Cyperus species using HPLC analysis
Authors: UDARI LATA 
Published: June 2021

Plants that yield food and fodder are well known from times immemorial and considerable amount of research work been carried on them. Herbal medicine is the oldest form of medicine known to humankind. It was the mainstay of many early civilizations and still the most widely practiced form of medicine in the world. Recently, the World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that perhaps 80% of the inhabitants of the world rely chiefly on traditional medicines, mostly plant‐based medicines, for their primary health care needs.

The medicinal value of the plant extracts lies in the bioactive phytochemical constituents that produce definite physiological effects on human body. These natural compounds formed the basis of numerous modern drugs as we use today. For instance Asiatic acid found in Centella asiatica (Family Araliaceae) is commonly used for wound healing in many places (Hong et al., 2005; Shetty et al., 2006), memory improvement, treatment of mental fatigue, bronchitis, asthma, dysentery, kidney trouble, urethritis, allergy, leucorrhea and toxic fever (Kan, 1986) and it is also used as a constituent of brain tonics for the mentally retarded (Kartnig et al., 1988).

Oxidative stress has been related to cardiovascular disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases that account for a major portion of deaths today. It has been implicated in mechanisms leading to neuronal cell injury in various pathological states of the brain, including neurodegenerative disorders. Although the brain accounts for less than 2% of the body weight, it consumes about 20% of the oxygen available through respiration. Therefore, because of its high oxygen demand, the brain is the most susceptible organ to oxidative damage.

Among these common weeds is the family Cyperaceae which are ubiquitous but may be difficult to recognize because of their closeness to the grass family except their triangular shaped stems that are characteristic. Lowe & Stanfield (1974) remarked that about four‐fifths of the species grow in damp or wet places (including a few submerged aquatics) while one‐fifth is found in drier situations such as savannah grasslands and sandy places including sand‐dunes.

In order to evaluate the medicinal value of notorious sedge weeds, In our study 10 Species: Cyperus rotundus, Cyperus esculentus, Cyperus diffusus, Cyperus involucratus, Cyperus helferi, Cyperus prolixus, Cyperus papyrus, Cyperus surinamensis, Cyperus hortensis, Cyperus squarrosus were investigated for their phytochemicals constituents, explored their chemical profile using HPLC ( high performance liquid chromatography ) and antimicrobial properties. In addition we compared Fresh plant extracts with dried samples (historical specimens) to see if those phytochemicals were stable over time. In vitro antimicrobial activities were evaluated against four bacterial species Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcu aureus, Escherichia coli.

Objectives

Extract & Identify the presence of Phytochemicals in various species of Cyperus.

Examine the stability of Phytochemicals in freshly Hravested samples vs Historical specimens

Explore the Antimicrobial properties of Cyperus extracts on various bacterial species.

This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.