Comprehensive analysis of metabolites in Pleurolobus gangeticus using the two-dimensional gas-chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry

Pleurolobus gangeticus, also known as 'Salparni', is a valuable herb with significant medicinal properties. Previous studies on the plant have only used conventional GC-MS to analyse its metabolites. In this study, we utilised two-dimensional gas chromatography and time-of-flight mass spectrometry to precisely characterise the shoot and root volatiles of Pleurolobus gangeticus. The ethyl acetate extract of both tissues revealed 50 prominent volatile phytoconstituents in each, accounting for 99.9% and 100.1% of the total volatiles, respectively. The most abundant chemicals found in the root were alcohols (19%) and fatty acids (17%), while the shoot primarily contained organic compounds (24%) and esters (20%). The major phytoconstituents in the root were hexadecanoic acid, 2-hydroxy-1ethyl ester (16.1%), octadecanoic acid, and 2,3-dihydroxypropyl ester (10.5%). Conversely, the shoot was dominated by n-hexadecanoic acid (9.1%), linoleic acid (7.4%), and neophytadiene (5.6%). These findings highlight the potential of Pleurolobus gangeticus for further research and development in medicinal applications. {Graphical Abstract}