GC-MS analysis of bioactive compounds from the whole plant ethanolic extract of Evolvulus alsinoides (L.) L.

Medicinal plants are at great interest to the researcher in the field of biotechnology, as most of the drug industries depend in medicinal plants for the production of pharmaceutical compounds. Plants are the traditional sources for many chemicals used as pharmaceutical biochemicals, fragrances, food colours and flavours in different countries especially in India. Most herbal medicines and their derivative products were often prepared from crude plant extracts, which comprise a complex mixture of different phytochemical constituents (plant secondary metabolites). The chemical features of these constituents differ considerably among different species. GC-MS method used for the analysis of the obtained extracts can be an interesting tool for testing the amount of some active principles in herbs used in cosmetic, drugs, pharmaceutical or food industry. The aim of this study was to carry out for identification of bioactive compounds from the whole plant ethanolic extract of Evolvulus alsinoides by Gas chromatography and Mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). GCMS analysis of ethanolic extract was done by standard protocol using the equipment Thermo GC-Trace Ultra Version: 5.0, Thermo MS DSQ II. The GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of various compounds like piperine, octodeconoic acids, hexadecanoic acid and squalene in the ethanolic extract of Evolvulus alsinoides. Hence, the Evolvulus alsinoides may have chemopreventive, anticancer, anti-microbial activity, antioxidant and antidiabetic activity due to the presence of secondary metabolites in the ethanolic extract. Due to the presence of esters which can be used as a flavoring agent in food industries. These findings support the traditional use of Evolvulus alsinoides in various disorders. Further studies are needed to isolate active principle of the extract as well as to elucidate their exact mechanism of action in various disorders.