The world is culturally endowed with various forms of healing practices having rich medical wisdom of immense importance. One of such pharmacognostically indispensable medicinal plant is Embelia tsjeriam-cottam A. DC. The active principle of E. tsjeriam-cottam is embelin, possessing a range of pharmacognostic activities including anti-cancer, antioxidant, antiinflammation, antibacterial and analgesic effects. Embelin in fruits of E tsjeriam-cottam was extracted using water bath method. For extraction of embelin from fruits of E. tsjeriamcottam, methanol and chloroform were used as solvents. Fruits were collected from five different agro-climatic zones of Odisha. Comparative estimation of embelin was done through spectrophotometer and High Performance Liquid Chromatographic (HPLC) methods. Samples extracted with chloroform and methanol showed embelin content in a range of 2.13-0.29% dry wt., and 0.95-0.28% dry wt. respectively using spectrophotometer. In case of HPLC analysis, samples extracted in chloroform and methanol showed embelin content in a range of 1.86-0.27% dry wt., and 0.875-0.26% dry wt. respectively. However the water bath method, used as alternative method for extraction, proved to be less time consuming, costeffective in extracting a pretty good amount of embelin as compared to the conventional (soxhlet) methods of extraction.

Traditional and ethno-medicinal use of plants enforces a holistic approach towards human health by wittily utilizing the synergistic potency of the bioactive compounds. Quinones are unique molecules with several therapeutic properties that lead them as most vital compound in pharmaceutical system. They can easily undergo reduction reaction paving the path for many biological processing. This class of molecules helps in treatment of several chronic ailments. Many of the drugs in Ayurvedic formulations and/or modern medicinal sectors are having one or more types of quinone groups as a major bio-active compound. However these aforementioned properties of quinones make them unique and versatile. The biochemical knowledge of these compounds is necessary to understand their physiological and toxicological properties. Amongst all quinones found naturally, anthraquinones are one of its kinds due to wide spectrum utilization in several drug formulations. In this review a brief detail of six unique yet ethno-botanically and pharmacologically versatile quinone compounds are depicted with their natural resources, structural characterization and ethnopharmacological activities. The gathered information regarding the above mentioned bio-active compounds would be helpful in identification and isolation of these compounds from a wide range of natural sources with structural characterization and pharmacological potency. These data would be pivotal in their precise identification for further use in both Ayurvedic and modern drug formulation sectors thereby lessening the threat status of the frequently used rare, endangered and threatened plants.

Context: Most of the Mangrove species are vital basically in terms of economic, environmental and medicinal point of view as several Mangrove species are used for preparation of many drug formulations. In this aspect, Aegiceras corniculatum is a unique black Mangrove plant. Aim: In this study antioxidant potency of different parts of A. corniculatum was evaluated through measuring the antioxidant parameters along with a comparative assessment between the crude extracts and the purified embelin isolates. Settings and Design: For this purpose, two different extraction procedures were opted along with two different solvent systems to confirm the viability of antioxidant values obtained from different plant parts of Aegiceras corniculatum. Methods and Materials: Antioxidant parameters like Phenol, Flavonoid, Total antioxidant content, 2, 2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), Reducing power were quantified from all the extracted plant part samples. Statistical analysis used: The results of the non-enzymatic parameters of antioxidant activity of both the crude plant extracts and the purified embelin samples were analysed through Two Way Repetitive Measure ANOVA using GRAPHPAD PRISM software version 6.05. Results: From the results, crude extracts along with isolated compounds had shown better antioxidant potency particularly in fruit followed by root, stem bark and leaf. Optimization of extraction process validated Soxhlet method to be a superior one. Conclusion: Crude extracts were found to be superior to purified isolates in terms of antioxidant potency. All samples showed remarkable antioxidant potency hence can be used in medicinal industries.

Embelin is a biologically active Phytochemical in benzoquinone group found in fruits of Embelia ribes & Embelia tsjeriam-cottam. Since E. ribes is not available in Odisha, E. tsjeriam-cottam is considered as substitute alternate source of Embelin. Embelin elicits diverse ethno-medicinal and pharmacological activities like anticancer, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antimicrobial properties and many more. Since fruits have been considered as major source of embelin; roots, stem barks and leaves of E. tsjeriam-cottam are not yet tested and used properly for preparation of medicinal formulations though are having significant ethno-medicinal documentations. This research paper deals with quantitative assessment of embelin present in roots, leaves and stem barks of E. tsjeriam-cottam from Odisha to report usefulness of non-fruit parts for estimation of embelin. Embelin content was assessed through spectrophotometric and HPLC methods of analysis. In case of chloroform extracted samples, embelin content was found to be higher in root parts (2.02%-Spectrophotometric, 0.57%-HPLC) followed by stem bark (1.94%-Spectrophotometric, 0.53%-HPLC) and leaf (1.82%-Spectrophotometric, 0.51%-HPLC). However, in case of methanol extracted samples, embelin content was found to be higher in root parts (1.6%-Spectrophotometric, 0.45%-HPLC) followed by stem bark (1.52%-Spectrophotometric, 0.24%-HPLC) and leaf (1.465%-Spectrophotometric, 0.23%-HPLC). These findings have revealed possible alternative substitute plant part besides fruits as source of embelin, to meet the demand of embelin yield, which will lead to least exploitation of plant species. Though embelin content found in fruit pa rts is double as compared to non-fruit parts, but it has got a marginable quantity of embelin that can be utilized further.

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