Malays. Appl. Biol. (2015) 44(3): 87-92
QUALITATIVE PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING AND GC-MS PROFILING OF Azadirachta excelsa LEAF EXTRACT
NURUL ‘IZZATI SHAFIE1*, NURDIANA SAMSULRIZAL2, NURFARHANA AHMAD SOPIAN1, MOHAMED ALI RAJION1, GOH YONG MENG1, MOHD MOKRISH MD. AJAT1 and HAFANDI AHMAD1
Department of Veterinary Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Universiti Putra Malaysia, 43400 UPMSerdang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia1
Department of Biology, Faculty of Applied Sciences, UniversitiTeknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, 40450 Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia2
*E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
ABSTRACT
Azadirachta excelsa is traditionally used by the locals to treat diabetes mellitus but the active compounds of the leaves have not been identified yet. Hence, the aim of the study was to identify the components of Azadirachta excelsa leaf extract by qualitative phytochemical screening and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Five grams of leaf extract were extracted using various solvents for phytochemical screening, while another five grams of ethanolic leaf extract was subjected for GC-MS analysis where the mass spectra of the compounds detected were matched with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) library. The results showed the presence of flavonoids, condensed tannin, triterpenes and steroids in phytochemical screening tests, while GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of seven major compounds in the ethanolic leaf extract. The major component of A.excelsae thanolic leaf extract was 9, 12, 15-octadecatrienoic acid (42.34%), followed by pentadecanoic acid, 14-methyl-, methyl ester (28.99%), phytol (10.63%), 9, 12, 15-octadecatrien-1-ol (5.37%), octadecanoic acid, methyl ester (4.36%), 9, 12-octadecadienoic acid, methyl ester (4.24%) and hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester (4.06%). Therefore, the findings of this study form a basis for the characterization of the compounds and allow researchers to investigate the potential of this plant in treating diabetes mellitus.
Keywords
Azadirachta excelsa, phytochemical screening, GC-MS analysis