Phytochemical Characterization of Bio-active Compounds in Hydroethanolic Extract of Elaeocarpus ganitrus leaves using HPLC, LC-MS, and HPTLC Analyses

Abstract

Bioactive compounds have various applications in different industries, including food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic industries, demonstrating the need to identify the best-standardized technique to screen the phytochemical profile of medicinal plants. This study aimed to characterize the bioactive compounds in the hydroethanolic extracts of Elaeocarpus ganitrus leaves using various analytical techniques: HPLC, LC-MS, and HPTLC. Air-dried leaves of E. ganitrus were extracted with 70% ethanol. The phytochemical composition of crude extracts was analyzed by the High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method, and a total of 93 compounds, including 46 flavonoids, 17 phenols, 14 polyphenols, 3 phenolic acid, 3 phenolic glycosides, 2 flavonoid glycosides, 2 glycosides, 2 phenylpropanoid glycoside, 1 hydroxycinnamic acid, 1 lignan, 1 tannin, and 1 terpene glycoside were detected and quantified. The Liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analyses identified 11 major eleven compounds: quercetin (803.0215 {micro}g/L), gallic acid (726.13 {micro}g/L), ferulic acid (652.34 {micro}g/L), chlorogenic acid (651.021{micro}g/L), pinocembrin (264.11 {micro}g/L), p-aminobenzoic acid (251.021 {micro}g/L), epicatechin (246.02 {micro}g/L), catechin (161.51 {micro}g/L), caffeic acid (123.31 {micro}g/L), syringaldehyde (116.31 {micro}g/L), and naringenin (106.31 {micro}g/L). The chemical fingerprinting was carried out by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC), and HPTLC fingerprint qualitatively revealed a predominant amount of gallic acid (48.64 %), curcumin (15.21 %), caffeic acid (12.19 %) and cinnamic acid (6.50 %). A significant amount of bioactive constituents in a hydroethanolic extract of E. ganitrus leaves indicates the plants therapeutic potential, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, anticancer, neuroprotective, and cardio-protective activities.