The herbal renaissance has been taking place throughout the world over the last few years. Over the period, herbal medicines have moved from an empirical basis to its present as an increasingly scientifically based system of healing, being referred as phytotherapy. Although the traditional medicinal systems adopt a holistic approach while using herbs or their combinations, knowledge of individual constituents facilitates in developing quality control methods, extraction procedures,

more »

... of pharmacological activity and pharmacokinetics. In tune with this effort, our current study focuses on the phytochemistry of the methanolic extract of the shoot part of Plectranthus hadiensis, a plant used in Ayurvedic preparations as well as other traditional systems of medicine. The preliminary phytochemical studies had revealed the presence of terpenes in the extract. TLC, HPTLC, GC-MS and NMR studies confirmed the presence of mono-, sesqui-and diterpenes in the extract. The terpene-rich methanolic extract when tested for its cytotoxicity using brine shrimp lethality assay showed an LC50 of 145µg/mL. The presence of terpenes thus supported the use of this plant in various medicinal preparations.