RESUMO
Catharanthus roseus is an important medicinal plant commonly known as Madagasker periwinkle. Traditionally different parts of its used in the treatment of various diseases (e.g. diabetes, menstrual regulators, hypertension, cancer and antigalactogogue etc.) in number of countries. The essential oil of leaves and flowers of Catharanthus roseus growing in Bangladesh were investigated by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrophotometery (GC-MS) to determined the chemical composition of the volatile fraction and identify their chemotypes. Quantification of active principles through analytical tools is essential for establishing the authenticity and credibility. Extraction by steam distillation and analysis with GC-MS have been shown to be valuable tools for the identification of the constituents of essential oil of leaves and flowers of Catharanthus roseus and can provide a useful guide about the variation of the components. The main objective of the present study was focused on identification and quantification of chemical constituents present in the essential oil of leaves and flowers of Catharanthus roseus by GC-MS methods. 24 compounds consisting (95.99%) of the total for the case of leaves were identified. And total 10 compounds consisting (98.20%) of the total for the case of flowers of Catharanthus roseus were identified by GC-MS analysis in Bangladesh. For the case of leaves the identified components were : terpenoids (75.41%) , alkanes (6.0%) , aldehydes (5.5%), fatty acids (3.6 %), ketones (3.2%), alcohol (2.28%) respectively. For the case of flowers the identified components fatty acid esters (98.20) % respectively.