Determination of chemical composition of the Ligularia narynensis root by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

Ligularia is a medicinally important herb of the family Compositae. Ligularia narynensis is a perennial herb growing in the mountains, rich in sesquiterpenes, triterpenes, lignans, alkaloids, and steroids. In this work chemical constituents of the root part of medicinal plant L. narynensis from Kazakhstan have been determined for the first time. The constituents of the root part of L. narynensis were extracted with hexane and analyzed by gas chromatography – mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Thirty compounds were detected, and their concentrations were determined by the method of normalization of peak areas. Among them, the major components are (9Z,12E)-octadeca-9,12-dienoic acid (16.7%), ethyl (9Z,12Z)-octadeca-9,12-dienoate (11.1%), n-hexadecanoic acid (11.0%), (3a,5a,5b,8,8,11a-hexamethyl-1-prop-1-en-2-yl-1,2,3,4,5,6,7,7a,9,10,11,11b,12,13,13a,13b-hexadecahydrocyclopenta[a]chrysen-9-yl) acetate (9.1%), [(3R)-4,4,6a,6b,8a,11,11,14b-octamethyl-1,2,3,4a,5,6,7,8,9,10,12,12a,14,14a-tetradecahydropicen-3-yl] acetate (5.1%). Presence of these bioactive constituents may indicate that the plant extract possesses anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and anticancer activities, which can serve as a basis for the development of new phytopreparations.