Comparative qualitative analysis of different classes of compounds in selected Australian and Indian Eucalyptus and Corymbia species: a convenient de-replication method for the eucalypts

Abstract

Eucalypts are a large group of woody trees with about 900 taxa in 3 genera: Eucalyptus, Corymbia and Angophora. The secondary metabolites of eucalypts have shown a plethora of biological activities. The chemistry behind the activities of eucalypts is being unearthed with advancements in modern medicine and pharmacy. This has demanded the phytochemical profiling of eucalypts with respect to their bioactive constituents. A large number of secondary metabolites (flavonoids, glycosides, triterpenoids, phloroglucinols) from several species of eucalypts have been earlier isolated by our group. In order to develop quick identification of secondary metabolites from eucalypts for de-replication purposes, we thought it worthwhile to develop qualitative HPTLC methods for these compounds in 15 eucalypts (13 Eucalyptus and 2 Corymbia) collected from Australia and India. High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) fingerprints using 87 compounds of the above chemical classes of natural products were developed for the quality assessment of eucalypts.