Abstract

Plumbago zeylanica is a medicinal plant widely used in forklore medicine in Africa and Asia for the management of ailments such as parasitic diseases, scabies, ulcers, piles, diarrhoea, skin diseases, leprosy, fever or malaria, rheumatism and intestinal parasites. The present study was carried out to identify the phytochemical components present in the ethanolic root extract of the plant by phytochemical screening methods and GC-MS analysis. The phytochemical screening showed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, steroids, flavonoids, saponins, anthraquinones, cardiac-glycosides, phlobatinnins and carbohydrates. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis also identified the presence of phytochemical components like phenolics (Phenol, 2,4-bis(1,1-dimethylethyl) (RT: 6.796), Cyclopentadecane (RT: 7.305), fatty acids/methyl esters, Feroprofen (RT: 9.602), 1,1,1,5,7,7,7-Heptamethyl-3,3-bis(trimethylsiloxy)tetrasiloxane (RT: 8.253), Indazol-4-one, 3,6,6-trimethyl-1-phthalazin-1-yl-1,5,6,7-tetrahydro- (RT: 10.162), 2H-Indol-2-one,1-(2,6-dichlorophenyl)-1,3-dihydro- (RT: 11.191), 2-Methyl-7-phenylindole (RT: 14.540), 1H-Indole-2-carboxylic acid, 6-(4-ethoxyphenyl)-3-methyl-4,5,6,7-tetrahydro-, isopropyl ester (11.528), and Anthranilic acid, 3-chloro-N-(o-chlorophenyl)- (RT: 12.443).

Key words: Plumbago zeylanica, gas chromatography, mass spectrometry, phytochemical screening.