Analysis of Bioactive Compounds in Latex of Croton bonplandianum (Baill.) Using GC-MS

Background: Croton bonplandianum Baill. belongs to the family of Euphorbiaceae and commonly known as ‘Bantulsi’. Traditionally, the latex of this plant is used for cuts and wounds.

Objective: The present investigation was designed to determine the phytochemical constituents of latex of C. bonplandianum by GC-MS. In the present study, the mass spectrum of the compounds found in the ethanolic extract of latex was matched with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library.

Place and Duration of Study: Post Graduate and Research Department of Biochemistry at Government Arts College (Autonomous), Kumbakonam and Centre for Advanced Research in Indian System of Medicine (CARISM), SASTRA University, Tirumalaisamudram, Thanjavur, Tamilnadu, India, during the months between October to December, 2015.

Methodology: 10 ml of fresh latex was mixed with 10 ml of ethanol and kept at shaker for 3 hours. The sample was filtered and concentrated through nitrogen flushing to 1 ml. From this, 2 μl of prepared sample was injected into GC-MS instrument for phytochemical analysis.

Results: The GC-MS analysis of the ethanolic extract of latex of C. bonplandianum revealed that the presence of twenty three phytocompounds including the anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and antimicrobial compounds but not all of them is bioactive compounds. The major chemical constituents present in the latex are 2-C-methylmyoinositol (32.4), mequinol (0.74), 4-methylphenol (6.86), 1,2,3-benzenetriol (3.54), 3-methylquinoline, (0.44), n-hexadecanoic acid [palmitic acid] (5.36) and octadecanoic acid [stearic acid] (1.95).

Conclusion: Further study is needed to isolate, identify, characterize and elucidate the structure of bioactive compounds responsible for therapeutic values of latex of C. bonplandianum.