BIOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS OF FLOWERS OF Vinca major, A MEDICINAL WEED PLANT OF HILLY AREAS OF PAKISTAN

Vinca major L. is an evergreen perennial weed of family Apocynaceae, growing naturally in hilly areas Hazara region Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Flowers this were collected from Khanspur, Ayubia during June 2021, shade dried and extracted pure methanol for two weeks. After filtration, the extract was analyzed by GC-MS identification possible bioactive compounds. ?-Amyrin compounds (32.49%) followed lup-20(29)-en-3-ol, acetate, (3?)- (25.72%). Moderately abundant included ?-sitosterol (8.78%), ?-amyrone (7.25%), cyclohexane, 1,3,5-triphenyl- (7.01%), olean-12-en-3-ol, (5.68%), n-hexadecanoic acid (3.18%). Some identified have various important biological properties including anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, anticancer, antimalarial, antioxidant, antidiabetic, antitumor etc.