Abstract

EVALUATION OF THE BIOACTIVE COMPONENTS OF ETHANOL EXTRACT OF THE RHIZOME, CURCUMA LONGA USING ADVANCED SPECTROSCOPIC METHODS

Chukwunweike Chioma C.*, Peter-Okala Mmesoma and Ukwueze Stanley E.

.

Abstract

Medicinal plants have played a major role in the treatment of various ailments for thousands of years. They have proved to be a major source of remedies used for curing various disease conditions. Curcuma longa is a rhizomatous plant known to possess strong medicinal properties useful for the treatment of disease conditions such as inflammation, microbial infections and cancer. The study was carried out to determine the phytochemical components of Curcuma longa and to identify the different bio-active constituents that may account for its acclaimed medicinal benefits using advanced spectroscopic methods such as Furrier transmission infra-red spectrometer (FTIR) and hyphenated gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). Ethanol extract of the rhizome was obtained by extracting dry powdered samples of Curcuma longa rhizome with 70% ethanol and subsequently dried to obtain dried samples of the extract. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the sample revealed that tannins, terpenes, phenols and flavonoids were present in the extract. Functional groups such as hydroxyl, aromatic alkene and phenol were detected following FTIR analysis of the extract. These groups are however associated with good free radical scavenging activity and hence strong antioxidant property. The GC-MS analysis was equally complimentary. It revealed the presence of various useful bioactive compounds such as curlone, Ar-tumerone, hexadecanoic acid ethyl ester etc. Ar- tumerone and curlone have demonstrated good antioxidant, antiinflammatory and anti-cancer activity while hexadecanoic acid ethyl ester has both anti- oxidant and hypocholestrolemic activity thus establishing the medicinal properties of Curcuma longa and its therapeutic benefits in the treatment of various disease conditions.

Keywords: Curcuma longa, GC-MS, Phytochemical, Ar-tumerone, Curlone, hexadecanoic acid.