Terminalia arjuna Leaf Gall: The Possible Treatment for Sickle Cell Anaemia

Objective: To check the presence of various secondary metabolites produced in the plant under study Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wight and Arn. post insect attack and gall formation.

Study Design: Terminalia arjuna (Roxb.) Wight and Arn, a well known plant involved in treating heart ailments in the Ayurvedic system of medicine for centuries. The plant’s astringent bark exhibits cardioprotective properties and is commonly used in the treatment of hypertension, angina and coronary artery disease. T. arjuna plant suffers from gall development in its leaves due to the attack of an hemipteran insect Trioza fletcheri minor. Insect attack acts as a stress stimulus for the plant to produce various bio-active compounds as a part of their defence mechanism. The present study was intended for the identification of various compounds present in the crude extract obtained from the healthy and galled leaves of Terminalia arjuna.

Place and Duration of Study: Experiments performed in the Plant pathology and tissue culture laboratory, Department of Botany University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, between April 2018 to March 2019.

Methodology: Various methods are employed for the identification of possible bio-active compounds present in the plant crude extract, GC-MS (Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectroscopy) is one such method. To check the presence of phytochemicals produced post insect attack and infection in T. arjuna normal and galled leaves, Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) of the methanolic extract was conducted. The normal healthy leaves and the galled leaves were collected, shade dried, pulverized and then soxhlet extracted for GC-MS analysis.

Results: GC-MS analysis of methanolic extract of Terminalia arjuna leaves and galls confess the presence of 57 compounds in the gall extract while 21 compounds in normal (uninfected) leaf extract. The gall extract revealed the presence of various novel and medicinally important bio-active compounds, one of them was 5-Hydroxy Methyl Furfural (5-HMF).

Conclusion: 5-HMF, an aromatic aldehyde is an economically important chemical compound and well-known for its wide application in various fields. It is an efficient anti-sickling agent and has undergone pre-clinical testing as a potential treatment for the fatal sickle cell disease. Qualitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of various bio-active compounds both in leaf and gall methanolic extract of Terminalia arjuna, thus proving the plant’s pharmaceutical importance. This study result will make a way for further research in plant’s pharmacological research.