Phytochemical Studies of Different Phases of Germination of Nigella Sativa Linn - a Medicinally Important Plant

Objective: Use of plant based drugs and chemicals for curing various ailments and personal adornment is as old as human civilization. Plants and plant-based medicaments are the basis of many of the modern pharmaceuticals we use today for our various ailments. The present paper deals with the phytochemical screening of medicinally important compounds from Nigella sativa, an important medicinal plant, in its different germination phases. This study involves the preliminary screening, quantitative determination and the qualitative thin layer chromatographic separation of some important secondary metabolites from the seeds (collected from market) and its different germinating stages till the complete seedling with two leaves arose. Method: A qualitative and quantitative phytochemical analysis was performed for the detection of various bioactive compounds viz. alkaloids, glycosides, terpenoids, steroids, flavonoids, tannins through standard biochemical assays and thin layer chromatography. Results: Germination dramatically decreased alkaloids, sterols, terpenoids and cardiac glycosides content while amount of phenols, flavonoids and saponins significantly increased in sprouts in a time-dependent manner. The quantitative analysis showed that the concentration of phenols (23.75mg/ g FW), and flavonoids (24.90 mg/g FW) reached the peak on 5th and 6th day of germination respectively, almost 3 times higher than the initial concentration in seeds (p < 0.05). Conclusion: Therefore, the germination of Nigella sativa seeds significantly increased some of the important phytochemical contents and decreased antinutritional components. The generated data has provided the basis for its wide use as the therapeutic agent both in the traditional and folk medicines.