Chemo-profiling of aqueous extract of Nauclea latifolia using GC-MS

Abstract

This study is aimed at ascertaining the chemical profile of an aqueous Nauclea latifolia extract using gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC-MS). The plant extract underwent GC-MS analysis, and the mass spectra of the components were compared with that from the National Institute of Standards and Technology library (NIST). GC-MS analysis revealed 18 compounds from the aqueos extract of N. latifolia. Among them, 9- octadecenoic acid (Z)-methyl ester, oleic acid and benzamide-2-bromo-N-[2-(3- fluorophenyl)-5-benzoxazolyl] were found to be the most prevalent compounds with percentage areas of 16.93%, 14.01%, and 9.18%, respectively. Whereas, 5-methyl-2- phenylindolizine with a percentage area of 0.66% was the least abundant compound. Some of these phytocompounds present in the aqueous extract of N. latifolia possess several biological activities such as anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and antimalarial properties. Hence, the aqueous extract of the leaf of N. latifolia can serve as a potential source of treatment in ethnomedicine.