DIVERSIFIED MORPHOLOGICAL AND PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF WILD BEGONIA OF SIKKIM HIMALAYABikash Bhattarai and Manju RanaAbstract Begonia is one of the largest genera of angiosperm under Begoniaceae, with more than 1500 species distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions. With diverse genera and a high degree of morphological diversity, Begonia is also a good sources phytochemicals. In this experiment, morphological assessment of three wild Begonia and preliminary phytochemicals screening by using different solvent extracts viz. ethyl acetate, hexane and methanol were carried out along with the determination of total flavonoids, Phenolic content and anthocyanin. The results showed that the methanolic extract was found to be best among the tested solvents, which reveals that the all three Begonia species consist of phenols, tannin, flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, carbohydrates, glycosides, amino acid and terpenoids. Among the tested species, hexane extract of Begonia palmata has maximum flavonoids (3.12 mg QE /100g) and ethyl acetate extract of Begonia palmate shows highest phenolic content (4.51 mg GA/g), whereas, Begonia xanthina has the highest anthocyanin (88.00g/mg) content. The present study reveals that wild Begonia species has varied morphology and a potential source of antioxidant properties and anthocyanin present in the leaves may conclude that the species may use for the production of natural dye. |