GC-MS analysis of Bioactive compounds from ethanolic extract of aerial parts of Mollugo pentaphylla L. and their pharmacological activities

Plant secondary metabolites are rich sources of bioactive compounds and are used in pharmaceutical industries and production of nutrient-rich food materials. These bioactive compounds are used to treat various diseases and to improve the health of people both by traditional and conventional ways of administrations. Therefore, Mollugo pentaphylla L., is a traditional medicinal herb, indicated for a number of medicinal properties. The present investigation was undertaken to identify the bioactive compounds present in the aerial parts powder of Mollugo pentaphylla L., by Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. Gas chromatography analysis-Mass spectrometer (GC-MS) was carried out at Karnatak University, Dharwad, Karnataka, India. It is one of the key techniques, generally used for identification of different groups of plant bioactive compounds. Quantification of the Mollugo pentaphylla L., showed 28 bioactive compounds and among these 7 major compounds identified are Pentadecanoic acid, 9-Octadecenoic acid, 2-Dodecenoic acid, Hexadecanoic acid, Oleic acid, Nonadecane and Octadecane. In the mass spectrum, each compound was identified based on their retention time and peak area. Pharmacological activities of these bioactive compounds indicated that the plant can be used as a crude drug and can also be used to develop a new drug and these bioactive compounds are indicated based on available pharmacological literature.