Phytochemical Screening for Medicinal Plants: Guide for Extraction Methods

Sri Lankans have relied on traditional medicine to meet their primary health needs since the beginning of time. This island is blessed with an enormous number of medicinal plants, which play a very important role in traditional medicine. However, the lengthy documented history of traditional medicine is still composed of medicinal plants, which are not scientifically proven to have the mentioned abilities or activities. To obtain scientifically sound information from this documented history of traditional medicine, extraction of the biologically active compounds from these medicinal plants is very important. Also, to maintain the accuracy of results obtained from in vitro and in vivo assays, it is important to consider the pre-extraction procedures as well as the evaporation and storage conditions of the extract. There are several extraction methods accessible in Sri Lanka. This research aims to review the pre-extraction preparation, extraction methods, evaporation techniques, and storage conditions of the plant extract. This review highlights that the reliability of phytochemical screening results is affected by the identification and authentication of the plant, pre-extraction procedures, menstruum utilized, method of extraction, and storage conditions.