Abstract

Lindernia crustacea (L.) F Muell is one of the most popular medicinal plants used in the traditional medicinal system throughout the world. The aim of the present study was to detect the phytochemical constituents, estimate the quantity of important phytochemicals in the methanolic, aqueous and acetone extract of the plant. The methanol extract was subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry technique to identify the bioactive compounds present in the extract. Standard procedures were used to detect the preliminary phytochemical constituents along with the quantitative estimation of total phenols, total flavonoids, total tannins and total alkaloids content for all the three extracts. The qualitative analysis revealed the presence of important phytochemicals such as phenols, flavonoids, saponins, tannins, glycosides and alkaloids. The quantitative estimation affirmed considerable amount of total phenolic, flavonoid, tannins and alkaloid content in the extracts. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of the methanolic extract showed the presence of biologically active compounds such as 1-ethyl2,2,4a,7,7-pentamethyl-1,2,3,4,4a,5,6,7-octahydro (1,8) naphthyridine; 2-allyl-3,6-dimethoxybenzyl alcohol; isoquinolin,1,2,3,4-tertahydro-2-(1-phenethyl) carbanyl-6,7-dimethoxy; pentanedioic acid, 2-((trimethylsilyl)oxy), dimethyl ester; valerophenone, 4´-(trimethylsiloxy) and (-)-cis-myrtanol. These compounds were detected for the first time in the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of Lindernia crustacea plant. Each of the major compounds revealed various therapeutic properties that are beneficial for treating different human diseases. Further studies for the isolation of the bioactive compounds may be useful in the pharmaceutical sector for the development of novel drugs.