Comparative Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) Analysis of Chemical Compounds of Moringa oleifera Leaves and Seeds from Abakaliki, Nigeria

Abstract

Moringa oleifera is a medicinal plant widely used in forkloric medicine in Africa and Asia for the treatment of ailments such as ulcer, wound, inflammation, heart problem, cancer, stroke, obesity, anemia and liver damage. Moringa oleifera leaf and seed samples from Abakaliki, Nigeria were used for chemical constituents’ analysis. The chemical constituents of the methanol extract of Moringa oleifera leaves and seeds were investigated using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Sixteen chemical constituents were identified in the leaf methanol extract with 9-octadecenoic acid (20.89%), L-(+)-ascorbic acid- 2,6-dihexadecanoate(19.66%), 14 –methyl -8-Hexadecenal  (8.11%) , 4- hydroxyl-4-methyl-2-pentanone (7.01%), 3-ethyl-2, 4-dimethyl-pentane (6.14%) and phytol (4.25%), octadeamethyl-cyclononasiloxane (1.23%), 1, 2-benzenedicarboxylic acid ( 2.46%), 3, 4-epoxy- ethanone comprising (1.78%), N-(-1-methylethyllidene)-benzene ethanamine (1.54%), 4, 8, 12, 16-tetramethylheptadecan-4-olide (2.77%), 3-5-bis (1, 1-dimethylethyl)-Phenol (2.55%), 1-Hexadecanol (1.23%), 3, 7, 11, 15-tetramethyl-2 hexadecene-1ol (1.17%), hexadecanoic acid (2.03%) and 1, 2, 3-propanetriyl ester-9 octadecenoic acid(1.23%) as the chemical constituents while five chemical constituents were identified in methanolic seed extract with oleic acid (84%), L-(+)- ascorbic acid- 2,6-dihexadecanoate (9.80%), 9-octadecenoic acid (1.88%), methyl ester-hexadecanoic acid (1.31%) and 9-octadecenamide (0.78%) as the chemical constituents.  The compounds identified through the GC-MS analysis were used in various applications as anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, cardio protective, cancer preventive, flavour and anti-infertility agents.

Keywords: GC-MS analysis, chemical constituents, Moringa oleifera, methanol extract, leaves and seeds