Determination of Phytochemicals in Medicinal Plants Collected from Adjoining Areas of Lahore

In the present research work, some medicinal plants from the adjoining areas of Lahore were investigated for their phytochemical screening and FTIR analysis. Four samples of medicinal plants Cichorium intybus (Kasni), Foeniculum vulgare (Sonf), Solanum nigrum (Makoh)and Polygonum aviculare(Anjbar)were selected. The main objective of the present study is to identify the phytochemicals through FTIR instrumentation, which encourages Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by minimising waste and chemical usage. Phytochemical testing of extracts of leaves of C. intybus, S. nigrum and roots of F. vulgare, and P. aviculare was carried out in four different solvents (Methanol, chloroform, n-hexane and aqueous solutions). The purpose of this study is to help in the formulation of herbal medicines and their quality assurance, and to make innovations to support industries in developing plant-based products contributing to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Phytochemicals identified were steroids, alkaloids, carbohydrates, flavonoids, phenols, tannins, saponins, cardiac glycosides, proteins and reducing sugars. Functional groups were identified in the leaves and roots of medicinal plants like esters, alcohols, alkenes, nitrites, amino acids, carboxylic acids, ethers, aromatics, organic halogens and carbohydrates. In this study, an effort was also taken to understand the importance of functional groups as bioactive components for treating various illnesses, and which functional group is responsible for a certain medicinal property of a medicinal plant. This study investigates the application of phytochemical screening and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for the identification of phytochemicals in a selected medicinal plant, addressing the limited analytical data available for such species, and recommends further research to explore their therapeutic potential.