GC-MS Profiling of Reproductive Stage Withania somnifera for Antimicrobial and Anticancer Phytochemicals
Lali Lingfa
and Srinivas Ankanagari*Department of Genetics and Biotechnology, Osmania University, Hyderabad – 500 007 (T.S), India.
Corresponding Author E-mail:asrinivas@osmania.ac.in
Abstract: Background: Withanias omnifera also known as Indian ginseng is commonly found in India and other Southeast Asian countries. Various parts of this plant have been used as herbal medicine to treat a variety of diseases. However, there is a lacuna in the profiling of phytochemical constituents present in the different parts of the plant at reproductive stage. Objective: To identify phytochemicals present in the methanolic extracts of leaf, root, and stem parts of W. somnifera at reproductive stage using GC-MS analysis. Methods: The airdried parts of plant (leaf, stem and root) were extracted with methanol and concentrated under reduced pressure at 40°C using a rotary evaporator. The GCMSQP2010, Shimadzu, Kyoto, Japan with headspace sampler (AOC-20s) and autoinjector (AOC-20i), was used for sample analysis. The phytochemicals were identified with the database provided by National Institute Standard and Technology (NIST11LIB). Results: The GC-MS analysis of leaf, root, and stem methanolic extracts of W. somnifera, revealed a total of eighty-two unique phytochemical peaks in the reproductive stage of the plant. Phytochemicals with antimicrobial and anticancer properties were identified in all the parts. In leaf, 2-pentanone, 5-chloro- was found to be most abundant and 2,5-dimethoxy-4-propoxy-.beta.-methyl-.beta.-nitrostyrene least abundant with antimicrobial nature, whereas, benzene, 1,1'-(1,2-ethenediyl)bis[2-methyl- was found to be most abundant and dibenzo[a,e]cyclooctene, 5,6,11,12-tetrahydro- least with anticancer property. In roots, the most abundant was benzoic acid, 3-methyl-2-trimethylsilyloxy-, trimethylsilyl ester and tris(trimethylsilyl)hydroxylamine the least abundant were identified to be antimicrobial, whereas high abundance uleine and low abundance 2-{4-[2-(4-methoxymethylphenyl)vinyl]phenyl}propan-2-olwere identified to be anticancer. In stem, acetohydroxamic acid was found to be most abundant and trans-2,3,6-trimethoxy-b-methyl-b-nitrostyrene least abundant for antimicrobial nature, whereas 3-acetoxy-2,3'-bibenzo[b]thiophene was found to be anticancer phytochemical. Conclusion: In this study, phytochemicals with antimicrobial and anticancer properties were identified in leaf, root and stem parts of W. somnifera at reproductive stage.
Keywords: Anticancer; Antimicrobial; GC-MS; Herbal medicine; Phytochemicals; Withania somnifera Back to TOC