ETHYL ACETATE EXTRACT OF Chenopodium murale ROOT, A SOURCE OF BIOACTIVE COMPOUNDS

Chenopodium murale L. is a winter weed of Chenopodiaceae. In this study, bioactive compounds present in ethyl acetate fraction of root extract of C. murale were identified. The weed plants were collected from Jehlem, Pakistan. Its roots were dried, powdered and extracted in methanol. After evaporation of the solvent, the remaining extract was mixed in water and partitioned with n-hexane, chloroform and finally with ethyl acetate. The last fraction was analyzed through GC-MS that indicated the presence of 15 compounds. These included the three major compounds namely o-xylene (15.03%), cyclopentanol (13.42) and 2-hexanol (13.99%). The moderately and less abundant compounds were ethylbenzene (5.47); methyl acetate (6.00%); cholestrol (4.33%); 2-phenanthrenol (3.01%); cyclohexanone (5.32%); p-xylene (5.12%); furostan-3,26-diyl dibenzoate (3.29%); dihexyl phthalate (4.99%); tricosanoic acid (2.74%); dioctyl phthalate (4.99%), hexanal (3.05%) and ergostane (1.29%). Literature survey showed that 10 of the identified compounds exhibited various biological activities including antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, anticancer and antipsoriatic. Most of the compounds were antimicrobial in nature.