Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and Fourier Transform Infrared Analysis of bioactive compounds present in Methanol Leaf Extract of Jatropha curcas L.

Abstract

Background: Medicinal Plants and herbs played tremendous roles in human healthcare and their products are used widely as raw materials in many pharmaceutical industries. Jatropha curcas had been identified to be one of medicinal plants with numerous medical applications. The present study was carried out to investigate and characterize the chemical components of the Methanol Leaf Extract of J. curcas. A GCMS was employed to identify the bioactive compounds while FTIR analysis was performed to identify the functional groups presented in the extract. Method: The whole plant of J. curcas was collected and identified. The leaf of the plant was collected cleaned, air dried to a constant weight under shield and crushed into coarse powder.  Two hundred grams (200 g) of the powdered leaf was weighed and macerated in 2 L of 70 % methanol for 72h, filtered, concentrated and analyzed. GC-MS analysis was carried out using Agilent Technologies GC system with GC-5977A/MS-597C model. The relative percentage amount of each component was calculated by comparing its average peak to the total areas. Interpretation on mass spectrum was done using Mass Hunter Library and the database of National Institute Standard and Technology search library. The FTIR analysis was performed using agilent cary 630 FTIR.  The peaks were viewed and the wave numbers and transmittance were recorded.  Result: The GCMS analysis revealed the presence of 50 peaks of bioactive compounds. The result of the FTIR spectroscopy showed strong and broad spectrum between 3700 and 3100 cm-1 and characteristic spectra were also produced at 2109.7 1580.4, 1401.5, and 1047.4 cm-1 indicating that the major functional groups or bonds present included OH, NH, C≡C, C=C and C-O, Conclusion: The therapeutics and pharmacological properties of the plant could be attributed to presence of these bioactive compounds in the plant