PHARMACOGNOSTICAL STUDY OF LEAVES OF ANTIDESMA MENASU AND IDENTIFICATION OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS BY GC-MS

Abstract

Antidesma menasu is a folklore medicinal plant used by local herbal practitioners for different disease ailments. The present
study aimed to analyse proximal contents in the leaves by standard protocols. The leaf extracts in ethanol and water
extracted through soxhlet method. The ethanol extract further fractionated by ethyl acetate, n-butanol, n-hexane and
water. Fractionation of ethanolic extract yielded higher percent yield with n-hexane followed by ethyl acetate and nbutanol. n-Hexane fraction thus obtained was further analysed with GC-MS for separation and identification of different
constituents. The transverse section of leaves were taken and stained to study the histological structure of petiole and leaf
which will useful for plant identity. The phytochemical analysis showed the presence of different phytoconstituents. GCMS study revealed the presence of twelve different constituents, out of which squalene was the major bioactive
compound eluted at retention time (RT) 25.187 minutes and it shows maximum area of 23.71% followed by ethyl
oleate, hexadecanoic acid, methyl esters and so on. The present study further strengthens the plant identity and its
composition.