Thesis (Ph.D.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Pharmacy - Department of Pharmacognosy

Family Fabaceae comprises 650 genera and 1800 species, many of which are of important medicinal and economical value. Genus Cassia has been widely used in folkloric and modern medicine as laxative, antihepatoma, antihypertension, antitubercular and many other uses. Cassia renigera Benth. and Cassia notabilis Randell. are two species belonging to genus Cassia, cultivated in Egypt for ornamental purposes. Phytochemical screening of the two species revealed the presence of flavonoids, anthraquinones/anthracenes, sterols and/or triterpenes, carbohydrates and/or glycosides HPLC analysis of free and hydrolyzed polysaccharides led to the identification of thirteen compounds in both plants where the major free sugar in C. renigera Benth. was sucrose and the major hydrolyzed PS was arabinose, while xylose was the major free and hydrolyzed PS in C. notabilis Randell. Total phenolic content of C. renigera Benth. and C. notabilis Randell. was 192.75±7.82 and 202.85±10.91 (æg (GAE)/mg extract), respectively. While the Total flavonoid content of C. renigera Benth. and C. notabilis Randell. was 84.91±8.66 and 91.77±6.94 (æg (QE)/mg extract), respectively. Quantification of phenolics revealed the identification of twenty one compounds in both plants, the most abundant phenolic in C. notabilis Randell. is e-vanillic acid and in C. renigera Benth. is benzoic acid. The HPLC analysis of Flavonoids in C. renigera Benth. and C. notabilis Randell. revealed the presence of eleven flavonoid aglycones where hespertin is the most abundant flavonoid in C. notabilis Randell, while catechin was the most abundant in C. renigera Benth

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