TLC Analysis of Ethanol Extract of Fresh Leaves of Celery (Apium Graveolens L.) Grown In Jos, Nigeria

Apium Graveolens L., is a member of the Apiaceaefamily. Apiaceae is a large family of mostly aromatic flowering plants whose leaf is commonly used as vegetables worldwide. The fresh leaves of Celery (Apium Graveolens L.) were crushed extracted with ethanol by Maceration and Fractionated with n-hexane and ethyl acetate. Thin Layer Chromatographic (TLC) analysis of the fractions of n-hexane and ethyl acetate were performed, important phytochemicals such as flavonoid, terpenoid and naturally occurring phhthalides were identified in the various fractions. The presence of flavonoid was revealed in n-hexane fraction with two spots whose R.f values are (0.82 and 0.58). Terpenoid presence was revealed in n-hexane fraction with two spots whose Rf values are (0.79 and 0.61) and also based on their observed colour change under ultraviolet light probably due to reaction with (vanillin-H2SO4). Phthalide was observed in ethyl acetate fraction with four spots under UV/10% H2SO4 with Rf values of (0.97, 0.67, 0.51 and 0.41). The findings provided the evidence that Apium GraveolensL. is a potent source of some medicinally important phytochemicals and natural products which justifies its use as medicinal plant and food flavourings. This can be further investigated for the isolation and structural analyses of the biological active phytochemical components for medicinal application.