Preliminary phytochemical screening and determination of total polyphenols and flavonoids content in the leaves of Houttuynia cordata Thunb

Houttuynia cordata Thunb (H. Cordata), an aromatic medicinal herb belonging to family Saururaceae, is a plant that grows in moist habitats, well known for its medicinal properties and widely used worldwide. H. Cordata is an aromatic medicinal herb belonging to family Saururaceae and is restricted to specialized moist habitats. Three extracts, successively obtained from the leaves of H. cordata, namely the diethyl ether leaves extract (DELE), the ethanolic leaves extract (ELE) and the aqueous leaves extract (ALE), were used to determine the polyphenol and flavonoid content in the leaves. Phytochemical screening of plant extracts showed the presence of flavonoid, saponin, alkaloid, tannin, and steroid compounds. Quantitative determination of total phenolics, total flavonoids of methanolic extract were carried out using colorimetric methods. The result of quantitative determination showed that total polyphenol content of the DELE, ELE and ALE were 32.18 ± 2.64, 97.98 ± 1.77, and 22.22 ± 2.00 mg of gallic acid equivalents per gram dry extract, respectively. Meanwhile total flavonoid content of the DELE, ELE and ALE achieved 31.65 ± 1.07, 35.72 ± 1.23, and 4.06 ± 0.54 mg of quercetin equivalents per gram dry extract, respectively.