Quantitative variation of bioactive phyto compounds in ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of Pergularia daemia (Forsk.) Chiov.

Dear Editor: Pergularia daemia Forsk (Asclepiadaceae) is a perennial twining herb commonly known as veliparuthi in Tamil. The plant has anthelmintic, laxative, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective and anti-inflammatory activities [1] . The pharmacological properties of this plant come from bioactive phytochemicals such as alkaloids, triterpenes, saponins and flavonoids. Phytochemically, the plant has been investigated for the presence of cardenolides, alkaloids, saponins and steroidal compounds [2] . In the present study, we developed a rapid method for identification and quantitative determination of putative phyto compounds in the crude extracts of ethyl acetate and methanol from whole plant of Pergularia daemia. Matured Pergularia daemia plant was collected between August and December, 2013 from the river bank of Pudukkottai District, Tamil Nadu, India. The plant was identified and voucher specimen (ACC: 196) was deposited in the herbarium of Department of Botany, Annamalai University. The shade dried plant materials (root, stem, leaves, flower and bark) of Pergularia daemia of about 1,000 g were subjected for size reduction to coarse powder, which was defatted by using petroleum ether (60-80uC) and then extracted with methanol and ethyl acetate using Soxhlet apparatus for about 72 hours at 40uC. The sediment was then filtered with Whatman No. 1 filter paper [3] . Both ethyl acetate and methanolic extracts of Pergularia daemia were further concentrated under vacuum using rotary vacuum evaporator (Buchi R-V120, Switzerland) at 40uC and then reconstituted in dimethyl sulfoxide and stored at 4uC for further use. The percentage yield of ethyl acetate and methanol extracts were found to be 4.5 % (w/w) and 8.1% (w/w), respectively. Preliminary phytochemical analysis revealed the presence of flavonoids, terpenoids, steroids, alkaloids, tannins and carbohydrates in ethyl acetate and methanol extracts of whole plant of Pergularia daemia. Gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) identified a number of compounds from GC fractions of the methanol and ethyl acetate extracts of Pergularia daemia. The results revealed that the presence of 15 different compounds from ethyl acetate extract viz., (2S,3S)-(-)-3propyloxiranemethanol, 4-heptanol, 3-methyl-, 1-pentanol, 4-methyl-2-propyl-, 2-decanynoic acid, dichloroacetic acid, 2,2-dimethylpropyl ester, cyclopentane undecanoic acid, 1-iodo-2-methylundecane, octadecane, 6-methyl-, heptacosane, methoxyacetic acid, 3-tetradecyl ester, 2(1H)naphthalenone, 3,5,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-4,8adimethyl-6-(1-methylethenyl)-, 2,6,10-dodecatrien-1-ol, 3,7,11-trimethyl-, (Z,E)-, azulene, 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-1,4-dimethyl-7-(1-methylethenyl)-, [1S(1a9,7a9,8aa9)]-(e-guaiene), methoprene, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)-, phenyl methyl ester (Table 1) and 18 different phyto compounds from methanol extract viz 8-methyl-6-nonenoic acid, vitamin D3, n-hexadecanoic acid, 4-trifluoro acetoxypentadecane, undec-10ynoic acid, 2-cyclopentene-1-undecanoic acid, (+)-,8nonynoic acid, didodecyl phthalate, 4-nonene, 5-nitro-, cis-Z-a9-bisabolene epoxide, 1b,5,5,6a-tetramethyl-octahydro-1-oxa-cyclopropa[a]inden-6-one, 1-naphthalenepropanol, a9-ethyldecahydro-5-(hydroxymethyl)-a9,5,8atrimethyl-2-methylene [1S[1a9(S*), 4aa9, 5a9, 8aa9]]-, 1,6,10-dodecatrien-3-ol, 3,7,11-trimethyl-,5a9-androstan16-one, cyclic ethylene mercaptole, 2(1H)naphthalenone, 3,5,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-4,8a-dimethyl-6-(1-methylethenyl)-, azulene, 1,2,3,5,6,7,8,8a-octahydro-1,4dimethyl-7-(1-methylethenyl)-,[1S-(1a9,7a9,8aa9)]-(eguaiene), methoprene, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)-, and phenylmethyl ester (Table 2) were identified. The major compounds such as didodecyl phthalate, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)-, phenylmethyl ester,