GC–MS analysis of bioactive compounds in three extracts of Clerodendrum volubile P. Beauv leaves

Abstract

This study is to investigate and characterize the chemical composition of the different crude extracts from the leaves of Clerodendrum volubile (C. volubile), an indigenous plant used in folklore medicine in the Niger delta area of Nigeria. The air-dried leaves were powdered and subjected to selective sequential extraction using solvents of increasing polarity through percolation with full column of water, ethanol and methanol to obtain three different extracts. The leaf extracts was further subjected to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC-MS). GC-MS analysis of the crude extracts of C. volubile revealed different types of high and low molecular weight chemical entities with varying quantities present in each of the extracts. Furthermore, the leaf extracts possess unique physicochemical characteristics which may be linked to the compounds naturally present in the leaves of C. volubile. The presence of these biologically active compounds may form the basis for the medicinal properties exhibited by the plant.