GC-MS and NMR spectroscopy based metabolite profiling of Panchvalkal kwath (polyherbal formulation)

Panchvalkal kwath (PK) is a bark formulation of five pharmacologically important plants, i.e., Ficus benghalensis, Ficus racemosa, Ficus religiosa, Thespesia populnea, and Ficus lacor. The Ayurvedic formulation is being used since ancient times to cure diabetes, bacterial infections and heal wounds. The present study aims to identify the metabolite profiles of PK which could explain its properties and its mode of action against specific diseases and disorders. The aqueous extract of Panchvalkal is prepared through a hot maceration process. The extract is subjected to preliminary identification of phytoconstituents and FTIR spectroscopy to recognize functional groups. GC-MS analysis reveals that the extract is enriched with 24-Norursa-3,12-diene (25.16%); Lup-20(29)-en-3-one (16.76%); 2-methyl-3-(4-propan-2-ylphenyl) propanal (7.04%); 2-(hydroxymethyl)-2-nitropropane-1,3-diol (11.21%) and 3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl-2,3-dihydropyran-4-one (4.15%). The presence of three new phytocompounds that are 4-(hydroxymethyl)-7-methyl-1,3-dioxepane-5,6-diol; 1-(4-isopropylphenyl)-2-methylpropylacetate and 4,4,6 A,6B,8A,11,11,14B-octamethyl-1,4,4A,5,6,6A,8,8a,910,11,12,12a,12b,13,14,14a,14b-ctadecahydro-3(2H)-picenone are detected in the extract. Metabolite profiles of the extract also constitute isoeugenol, stigmasterol, ergosterol, ocimene, myrcene, squalene, sphingosine, betulin, methyl ferulate and cis-jasmone, which are unraveled by 1 D ¹H and 2 D ¹H-¹³C HSQC NMR spectroscopy. This article focuses on the presence of different phytocompounds in PK in order to demonstrate its efficacy as a therapeutic formulation for a variety of diseases.