INVESTIGATION AND COMPARATIVE STUDIES OF PIPERACEAE PLANTS

Abstract

The widely used spice black pepper, is obtained from the seeds of Piper nigrum, a genus of Piperaceae family. Other species, such as Piper longum Piper peepuloides and so on have also been studied extensively. In the present project, we have attempted to examine the alkaloidal content of Piper betle, the stems and leaves of Piper nigrum and Piperomia pellucida which is a different genus of the Piperaceap family, and compare the distribution of alkaloids by using T.L.C. methods with that of the seeds of Piper nigrum which is well studied. Although the crude extracts of the above mentioned plant materials did show the presence of alkaloids by Dragendorff’s reagent, due to the minute amount present, it was not possible to isolate any well-defined crystalline alkaloid from the crude extracts