Chemical Profiling of Volatile Bioactives in Luisia tenuifolia Blume Successive Extracts by GC-MS Analysis

Luisia tenuifolia Blume is also known as "slender leaved Luisia" and has been traditionally used in various skin ailments. The study was conducted to investigate and further characterize the volatile bioactives of different extracts of L. tenuifolia. Whole plants of L. tenuifolia, after collection, were shade dried, pulverized, and extracted successively with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and ethanol by Soxhlet percolation. Each of the crude extracts was further subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. GC-MS profile of all the four extracts was established and a wide range of secondary metabolites were identified and characterized spectroscopically. A total of 25, 27, 14, and 15 components were identified in the n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and ethanol extracts accounting for 79.31, 78.28, 97.08, and 83.83% of the total peak areas of volatile components, respectively. Several pharmacologically active components including natural antioxidants (β-tocopherol and δ-tocopherol), saturated and unsaturated fatty acids, eicosane, phytol, and spheroidenone were present. Thus, the current study reports the presence of promising, volatile yet thermostable bioactive components and in turn provides a promising note in the exploration of its biological activity.