Phytochemical and gas chromatography-mass spectrometric (GC-MS) analyses of whitfieldialateritia leaf

Whitfieldialateritia is a medicinal plant widely used in folkloric medicine of Africa and Asia for the treatment of ailments such as inflammation, anemia, and liver damage and boasting of blood. The phytochemical and GC-MS analyses of Whitfieldialateritia leaf were carried out using standard methods. Qualitative phytochemical analysis revealed presence of flavonoids, alkaloids, saponins, cardiac glycosides and tannins from the sample. Nineteen (19) chemical constituents were identified from GC-MS  analysis of the sample which include   5- (1-methyl ethylidene)– 1, 3-cyclopentadiene (1.12%), hept–2-ene  (12.2%), octa-1,3,5,7-tetraene (4.5%),  (1-mthylethyl)  benzene (cumene) (0.7%), 3,5-dimethylhepta-3,5 dien-1-yne (0.6%), hexane (0.3%), 5-(1-methylethylidene)-1,3-cyclopentadiene (0.8%), butanoic acid (1.8%),oct-2-ene (1.1%), hexadecanoic acid (22.8%), nona-1,3-diene (9.4%), non-1-ene (26.9%) and octadecanoic acid (9.2%).  Result obtained showed that the leaf extract of Whitfieldialateritia has non-1-ene (26.9%) as the highest and hexane (0.3%) as the least chemical compound. These relative diverse chemical constituents may be responsible for the medicinal properties of Whitfieldialateritia leaf.