Chromatographic Profiles of Fruits and Flowers of Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) Morpho-variants from Ladakh, India

Abstract

Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is a multipurpose tree with fruits and flowers being used by locals since
ages for its medicinal value. This species is commonly known as ‘Sersing’ and represented by five different
morpho-variants in the Ladakh region. The present study was carried out to find out phytochemical differences
among these five morpho-variants of Russian olive with the help of chromatographic studies. The chemical
profiles of fruit and flower extracts obtained using TLC indicate diversity among the variants. Similarly, gas
chromatograms of fruit volatiles presented clear evidence of qualitative as well as quantitative differences among
the variants. In fruits, presence of stigmasterol was also reported. This study was the first attempt to obtain intraspecies
diversity through chemical profiling using chromatographic techniques which can be used as fingerprints
for identification of these variants