Harsha Rajabhau Loyte and Anita Surendra Patil

Catharanthus roseus (Alba) is a medicinal plant known for its indole alkaloids, including vincristine and vinblastine. The study focused on comparing different extraction methods and selecting a suitable solvent system for thin layer chromatography to observe alkaloid separation. Five extracts were prepared using crude leaf, callus, cold methanol, root tissue and Soxhlet extraction. All extracts were tested for the presence of alkaloids, followed by TLC analysis. Among the solvent systems examined, the mixture of ethyl acetate, benzene, methanol and 25% ammonia in the ratio 100:5:5:3 gave the most distinct separation. Cold methanolic and Soxhlet extracts produced the highest number of visible spots under UV light at 254 nm. Heat activation of plates altered the visibility of some bands, which highlighted changes in the interaction between the extract and the mobile phase. The method developed in this work offers a simple and inexpensive way to observe alkaloids in C. roseus and may be used as a preliminary step before advanced chromatographic techniques.

Highlights
•    A TLC method was used to observe Pharmaceutically important alkaloids in Catharanthus roseus (Alba).
•    The solvent mixture of ethyl acetate, benzene, methanol and ammonia gave the best separation.
•    Cold methanolic and Soxhlet extracts produced the highest number of visible spots.
•    Heat activation changed the clarity and colour of several bands.
•    The method is suitable for preliminary alkaloid screening.

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