Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Analysis of Ethanolic Extracts of Aerva lanata (L.).

Aim: To determine the phytochemical constituents present in the different parts of Aerva lanata using Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS). Study Design: GC-MS analysis of bioactive compounds in different parts of A. lanata. Place and Duration of Study: Post Graduate and Research Department of Biochemistry, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Kumbakonam and Department of Food Safety and Quality Testing, Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India, between May 2011 to June 2012. Methodology: 15 g of powdered plant material of leaf, flower and root were soaked with 60 mL of 95% ethanol for 24 hrs. After 24 hrs, the extract was filtered and the filtrate was concentrated to 1 mL by bubbling nitrogen gas into the solution. 2 μL of ethanolic extracts of leaf, flower and root of A. lanata was used for GC-MS analysis. Results: The GC-MS analyses showed that the presence of four different phytocompounds in ethanolic extract of leaf of A. lanata. The highest peak area of 74.73% for isophytol was identified in leaf of A. lanata. The ethanolic flower extract of A. lanata showed that the presence of twelve different phytocompounds. Flower extract contains the highest amount of phytocompound was 6, 9,12 –octadecatrienoic acid, phenyl methyl ester (z,z,z)- with the peak area of 25%. The root extract of A. lanata showed that the presence of eight different bioactive compounds. The root of A. lanata showed more quantity of lanost-9 (11)-en-12-one with the highest peak area of 45.11%. Conculsion: The present study confirmed that the presence of active compounds in different parts of A. lanata. In future, the isolation of above mentioned bioactive compounds from the different part of A. lanata would be useful to find out the novel drugs.

GC-MS Analysis of Leaf, Fruits and Latex of Croton bonplandianum Baill.

Aims: To characterize the phytocompounds of different parts of Croton bonplandianum using GCMS. Study Design: GC-MS analysis of bioactive constituents of C. bonplandianum. Place and Duration of Study: Post Graduate and Research Department of Biochemistry at Government Arts College (Autonomous), Kumbakonam and Food Safety and Quality Testing Laboratory, Indian Institute of Crop Processing Technology, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India, between May, 2011 to June, 2012. Methodology: The C. bonplandianum leaf and fruit (25 grams) powder was soaked in 60 ml of ethanol each and kept at room temperature for 12 hours and the fresh latex of 10 ml was mixed with 90 ml of ethanol and kept at shaker for 3 hours. The samples were filtered and concentrated. Each sample was subjected to phytochemical analysis using GC-MS. Results: The GC-MS analysis showed peaks of twenty one phytocompounds from different parts of C. bonplandianum. Out of which five compounds were found in leaf, one compound in latex and fifteen compounds in fruits. The highest peak area of 88.69% for 16-Hexadecanoyl hydrazide and the lowest peak area of 1.39% for Phytol were obtained in leaf extract. The latex of C. bonplandianum showed that the presence of Myo-Inositol, 2-C-methyl with the peak area of 30.8%. The fruits of C. bonplandianum showed that the presence of 9, 12, 15-Octadecatrienoic acid, methyl ester (z,z,z)- with the highest peak area of 41.81% and 2-Hexen-1-ol, 2-ethyl with the lowest peak area of 0.69%. Conclusion: The phytochemical constituents of C. bonplandianum have been screened and the isolation of individual bioactive compounds from C. bonplandianum will be helpful to find new drugs.

GC-MS Analysis of Phytocompounds of Leaf and Stem of Marsilea quadrifolia (L.).

To investigate the phytochemical constituents of methanolic extracts of leaf and stem of Marsilea quadrifolia (Linn.). Methods: The methanolic leaf and stem extracts of M. quadrifolia were prepared by standard procedure and concentrated at 40ºC using hot air oven. The concentrated methanolic extracts were subjected to phytochemical analysis using GC-MS. Results: The GC-MS analyes showed that the presence of 39 phytocompounds in the methanolic extract of leaf of M. quadrifolia including 4H-Pyran-4-one,2,3-dihydro-3,5- dihydroxy-6-methyl-(21.41%); n-Hexadecanoic acid (17.47%); 9,12,15-Octadecatrienoic acid,methylester (Z,Z,Z)-(12.96%); 2-Furancarboxaldehyde,5-(hydroxyl methyl)-(9.39%) and 9,12,15-Octadecatrien-1-ol (Z,Z,Z)-(3.54%). The methanolic extract of stem of M. quadrifolia revealed that the presence of 29 bioactive compounds including 2- Furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethyl)-(60.42%); 4H-Pyran-4-one, 2, 3-dihydro-3, 5-di hydroxyl-6-methyl-(13.88%); n-Hexadecanoic acid-(6.00%); 6-Octadecenoic acid (Z)- (2.69%) and Furfural-(2.23%). Conclusions: The result of the GC-MS analysis showed that the methanolic extract of M. quadrifolia contains many pharmacologically important bioactive compounds. However M. quadrifolia is an important medicinal plant and used in the traditional system of medicine to cure many diseases including diabetes mellitus. So there are need of further studies to isolate and identify the specific phytocompound involved in controlling diseases and ultimately which may lead to drug development.

Antimicrobial Activity of Marsilea quadrifolia (L.) Against Some Selected Pathogenic Microorganisms.

Objective: To investigate the antimicrobial activity of different solvent extracts of leaf and stem of M. quadrifolia (L.) against selected human pathogenic microorganisms. Methods: The antimicrobial activity was evaluated by well diffusion method. The antibacterial and antifungal studies were carried out at the Department Laboratory, Government Arts College (Autonomous), Kumbakonam – 612 001, Tamilnadu, India during the months of July to December 2013. Wells of 6 mm diameter were punched in the agar medium and filled with different volumes of extracts (50mg/ml) contains 2.5, 3.75 and 5mg concentrations. Results: The antimicrobial activity of different solvent extracts of leaf and stem of M. quadrifolia at different concentrations was analyzed. Among the concentrations, 5mg of both leaf and stem extracts showed best antimicrobial activity than other concentrations 2.5 and 3.75mg. The leaf and stem extracts showed antimicrobial activity and produced the zone of inhibition ranges from 8 to 23mm. The aqueous leaf extract showed maximum zone of inhibition 23mm against Streptococcus pyogenes followed by ethanolic stem extract showed 21mm against Bacillus subtilis. The minimum antibacterial activity 8mm was observed by diethyl ether stem extract against Klebsiella pneumonia. The antifungal activity of diethyl ether leaf extract showed positive results in all tested fungal strains when compared to other solvent extracts. The maximum zone of inhibition 13mm was observed against Aspergillus terreus at 5mg of diethyl ether leaf extract. Aqueous and methanolic leaf extracts had no antifungal activity in all tested fungal strains except 5mg of methanolic leaf extract. The aqueous and diethyl ether stem extracts showed potent antifungal activity and the maximum zone of inhibition 15mm was observed against Aspergillus niger. Diethyl ether stem extract also showed maximum zone of inhibition 15mm against Trichoderma viride. Conclusion: From this study, we concluded that it may be a new source for the discovery of novel antimicrobial compounds from M. quadrifolia.

Indirect Regeneration of Withania somnifera from Nodal Explants.

Withania somnifera is an important medicinal plant and used to cure many diseases. Indirect regeneration protocol for multiple shoots development was established using nodal explants of W. somnifera from 50-60 days old seedlings. The callus induction was observed from nodal explants, grown on Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium supplemented with various concentrations and combinations of 2,4-dichlorophenoxy acetic acid (2,4-D) and kinetin (Kn). Maximum level of callusing response (80.0%) was recorded on MS medium supplemented with a combinations of 2.0 mg/l 2,4-D and 0.2 mg/l Kn. The callus (greenish compact) was transferred into MS medium containing various concentrations (0.5–2.0mg/l) of 6-benzyl amino purine (BAP) alone and in combination (0.1–0.4mg/l) with indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) for shoot initiation and proliferation. The maximum number of shoots was initiated from callus on 1.0mg/l BAP along with 0.2 mg/l IAA and proliferation of shoots achieved by subsequent subcultures at 4 weeks interval in the same medium. The maximum of 31.4 shoots/explant were achieved in the second subculture. MS medium along with 1.0 mg/l gibberellic acid (GA3) induced maximum elongation (96.7%) of regenerated shoots and MS medium supplemented with 0.8 mg/l indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) induced maximum rooting (96.7%) from elongated shoots. After a hardening period, the plantlets were transferred to the field with 98% of survival.