Abstract

PRELIMINARY PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY MASS SPECTROMETRY ANALYSIS OF COSTUS PICTUS D. DON

*Prejeena V., Suresh S. N. and Varsha V.

Abstract

Plants have always been source of drugs and many of the currently available synthetic drugs were derived directly or indirectly from them. The bio active constituents present in the plant are responsible for the medicinal properties of the plant. Bioactive compounds or phytochemicals are non-nutritive chemicals naturally occurring in plants. The study was aimed to investigate the qualitative phytochemical constituents present in ethanol, aqueous and petroleum ether extracts and GC-MS analysis of Costus pictus leaves. The preliminary screening showed presence of alkaloids, steroids, terpenoids, glycosides, carbohydrates, tannins, saponins, phenols, flavonoids and proteins. GC-MS analysis confirmed the presence of biologically active compounds like terpenes, diterpenes, fatty acid, essential oils, acyclic alkanes, phenols and triterpene. These results provide scientific support for further research in the development of novel drug.

Keywords: Costus pictus, Bioactive compounds, GC-MS, Alkaloids, Terpenoids, Flavonoids.