ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Study of Estimation and Variation of Alpha-amyrin Content among individuals of Suaeda maritima (L.) Dumort. Growing along the South-East Coast of India 

Suaeda maritima (L.) Dumort. of the family Chenopodiaceae, is an annual succulent herb growing on salty marshy habitat as one of the dominant mangrove associate species and also as pure vegetation of that. It is regularly harnessed by the local people for use as food as well as for alleviating different maladies. Alpha-amyrin, a triterpenoid, is a remarkable biomolecule available in S. maritima. It is reported to have cardioprotective, anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties. A survey of the amount of alpha-amyrin content available in the individuals of S. maritima, collected from eight different regions of the sea coast of the bay of Bengal like, Digha, Sankarpur, Tajpur, Dadanpatrabarh, Shoula, Bankiput and Petuaghat, was conducted with normal phase high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) in this study. It also portrayed variation in the amount of alpha-amyrin among the plant individuals of the species growing in the said zones. The existence of variation in the amount of alpha-amyrin seems to be prospective for selecting the best producer out of them.