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Journal of Drug Delivery and Therapeutics

Open Access to Pharmaceutical and Medical Research

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Open Access Full Text Article                                                                  Research Article

GC-MS analysis of ethanolic extract of Momordica charantia fruit

Brij Raj Singh¹*, Amita Verma ², Vinay Kumar Yadav ²

¹ Department of Pharmacognosy, Malti Memorial Trust CSM Group of Institutions, Faculty of B.Pharmacy, 8^th Mile stone Rewa Road, Iradatganj, Prayagraj 212111, U.P., India.

² Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Research Laboratory, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Sam Higginbottom University of Agriculture, Technology and Sciences, Prayagraj, 211007, India.

 

 

INTRODUCTION 

Momordica charantia Linn. Bitter melon, often called bitter gourd or karela, is a member of the Cucurbitaceae family. It grows in tropical regions of Asia, East Africa, and the Caribbean ¹. The fruit has surface warts and is oblong or spindle in shape ². Dysmenorrhea, piles, rheumatism, pneumonia, gout, jaundice, eczema, and psoriasis are among the conditions it is used to treat ^{3, 4, 5}. The plant is used to treat several illnesses, including diabetes, anthelmintics, laxatives, and digestive disorders. Extraction is the primary technique used to extract and separate bioactive phytochemicals from plant sources prior to component analysis ⁶. Because of this, medicinal plants are now a significant source of pharmaceuticals and account for around 25% of prescriptions. The World Health Organization believes that traditional medicine will continue to play a major part in the healthcare system because over 80% of people in third-world countries rely on it. The likelihood of medicinal plants going extinct is higher. Therefore, identifying the active principles in medicinal plants is necessary for the scientific validation of traditional medicinal plants or the identification of lead compounds for use as therapeutic medicines ⁷. The concentration of specific active principles in herbs used in food, medicine, cosmetics, environmental, and forensic applications can be ascertained using the GC-MS technique used for the analysis of the produced extracts. It integrates two analytical methods into one for the analysis of chemical compound mixtures. Mass spectroscopy examines each component independently, whereas gas chromatography separates the constituents of a mixture. According to chemical analyses, phenolics, flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, saponin, tannin, and volatile components are its primary elements ⁸. 

MATERIALS AND METHODS 

Collection and identification of plant material

Fresh fruits of Momordica charantia L fruits were harvested from local area of Prayagraj, U.P., India. The Botanical Survey of India (BSI), Prayagraj, recognized and verified the plant material with Authentication No. 2023-24/100. 

Sample preparation

A soxhlet extracter was used to extract 100 g of dried plant powder in 500 ml of ethanol until a clear, colorless solvent was obtained. The extracted substance was stored in an airtight container and dried by evaporation for subsequent use. Momordica charantia fruit extract was analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectroscopy (GC-MS) using the Thermo GCMS-QP2010 Ultra, which features a DB 35 – MS Capillary Standard non-polar column with dimensions of 30 mm×0.25 mm ID×0.25 μm films. The carrier gas, helium, is used at a slow pace of 1.0 ml/min. After five minutes at 70 °C, the oven's temperature was gradually increased to 310 °C after ten minutes. At 280 °C, the injector was operating. Component identification was based on comparing the retention indices of NIST libraries. The components were identified and the results were tallied after a comparison with those in the computer library (NIST) attached to the GC-MS apparatus ⁹.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The analysis and extraction of plant material play an essential role in the development, modernization and quality control of herbal compositions. Understanding plant toxicity and protecting humans and animals from natural poisons are two more benefits of studying medicinal plants. Therefore, using gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy, the current study was conducted to identify the bioactive chemicals contained in the ethanolic extract of Momordica charantia. Table 1 and Fig. 1, 2 provide the active principles together with their retention time (RT), molecular formula, molecular weight (MW), and concentration (peak area%). The ethanolic extract of Momordica charantia contains 32 phytochemical components. Figure 2 displayed the GC-Mass spectra of the discovered chemicals from Momordica charantia. Among the found bioactive phytocompounds, heptacanoic acid, Docosanoic acid, Tridecanoic acid, ethyl tridecanoate, undecanoic acid, Levomenthol, decanal, 1-Hexanol,5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)-, 1-(pyrrolidin-3-yl) pyrazole, Bicyclo[2.2.1] heptan-2-one,4,7,7-trimethyl-, isomyocorene and 1-Cyclohexene-1-methanol have anticancer, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antibacterial activity ¹; antifungal [¹¹;  anticonvulsant, antioxidant, Antimicrobials ¹²; antimicrobial; topical antifungal ¹³; topical analgesic and respiratory infection ¹; antifungal, skin protection; anti-microbial ¹⁵; alpha-glucosidase inhibitors, neurodegenerative disorders, immunological disorders ¹⁶; hypoglycemic, antiseptic , analgesic ¹⁷; antioxidant, antimicrobial activity ¹⁸; antitumor, antiepileptic, antimicrobial, antifungal activites  ^{19, 20}respectively. Due to the presence of above stated chemicals in the fruit ethanolic extract of Momordica charantia may be used in different therapeutic applications.

 

 

Table 1 GC-MS spectral analysis of ethanoilc fruit extract of Momordica charantia

 

                 

Figure 1 GC-MS chromatogram for fruit ethanolic extract of Momordica charantia

Figure 2: GC-Mass spectra for compounds 1-5

 

Figure 2 (Continue)  : GC-Mass spectra for compounds 6-10

 

Figure 2: GC-Mass spectra for compounds 11-15 (Continue..)

 

Figure 2 (Continue) : GC-Mass spectra for compounds 16-17

 

Figure 2 (Continue) : GC-Mass spectra for compounds 18-22

 

Figure 2 (Continue) : GC-Mass spectra for compounds 23-27

 

Figure 2 (Continue) : Mass spectra for compound 28-32

 

The source of novel medications is medicinal plants. Many of the current medicines are produced indirectly  from the medicinal herbs. They have provided several substances to fight against various diseases and illness. 

CONCLUSION

Due to their potential as sources of novel compounds with therapeutic value and as discovery of lead compounds for drug development, medicinal plants, the foundation of conventional medicine, have been the subject of significant pharmacological research in recent decades. Therefore, 32 compounds were found when the bioactive molecules in Momordica charantia were identified by GC-MS analysis. Heptacanoic acid, Docosanoic acid, Tridecanoic acid, ethyl tridecanoate, undecanoic acid, Levomenthol, decanal, 1-Hexanol,5-methyl-2-(1-methylethyl)-, 1-(pyrrolidin-3-yl) pyrazole, Bicyclo [2.2.1] heptan-2-one,4,7,7-trimethyl-, isomyocorene and 1-Cyclohexene-1-methanol among the phytochemicals that have been found to have antioxidant, antibacterial, anticancer, antidiabetic, and anti-inflammatory properties. This study concludes that the existence of these phytochemicals and bioactive substances in Momordica charantia may make it a new potential source of pharmaceuticals.

Acknowledgements: We thank to the Central University of Punjab for providing the facility to complete this research.

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