eng Oriental Scientific Publishing Company Biosciences Biotechnology Research Asia 0973-1245 2016-01-09 2 2 161 163 3486 article D. P. Chatterjee 1 A. K. Singh 2 P. Kumar 1 R.K.D.F. College of Pharmacy, Bhopal (India) Department of Applied Chemistry, BEC, Bhopal India. Investigations of the triterpenes of plants belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae reveals the presence of cucurbitacins, a group of tetracyclic compound. Coarse powder of Benincasa cerrifera root was extracted with different solvents, each solvent extract was passed through qualitative test. Each solvent was further subjected to thin layer chromatography (TLC). The qualitative tests and TLC indicates presence of atleast 2 sterols in the roots. Alkaloids were found to be absent. Further, the detailed study was performed by UV and IR spectrophotometer. Therefore, the work on Benincasa cerrifera root according to ethno-pharmacognostic information may give us a fruitful result. https://www.biotech-asia.org/vol2no2/phytochemical-study-of-benincasa-cerrifera/ TLC; Benincasa cerrifera; UV and IR absorption; sterol A and sterol B