Gas chromatographic methods coupled to mass spectrometry detection of leaf extracts of Symplocos racemosa Roxb.

Symplocos racemosa Roxb., belonging to the family Symplocaceae, is an important medicinal plant. Chemometric profile of chloroform, methanol and ethanol leaf extracts of S. racemosa were performed by hyphenated gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) technique. Chemometric profile of leaf extracts revealed the presence of 57 phyto-chemotypes, among them, Erucylamide (15.94%), Vitamin E (8.26%), 10-Heneicosene (8.97%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (5.21%), 1-Heneicosyl formate (5.11%), Tetracosanol (5.36%), 2,4-Hexanedione, 5,5-dimethyl- (11.94%), Linoleic acid (19.30%), Dibutyl phthalate (8.8%) and (Z)-9-Octadecenamide (19.33%) were found to be present in major amount. Eventually, in the present study we have found phenol, alcohol, ketone, alkane and ester as the major group of phytochemotypes in the different leaf extracts of S. racemosa. All these compounds identified by GC/MS analysis were further investigated for their biological activities and it was found that they possess a diverse range of positive pharmacological actions. In future, isolation of individual phyto-chemotypes and subjecting them to biological activity will definitely prove fruitful results in designing a novel drug.