PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING OF SELECTED INDOOR PLANTS FROM SWAT VALLEY USING GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY

Abstract

A Phytochemical screening of selected 10 indoor plant’s species including; Dracaena trifasciata, Opuntia microdasys, Ravenea rivularis, Raphis excelsa, Ficus elastica, Dracaena fragrans, Epipremum aureum, Schefflera arboricola, Aucuba japonica, Syngonium podophyllum, collected from local nurseries of Charbagh Swat was carried out from their dried leaves methanolic crude extracts using Gas Chromatography, GC-MS. The main compounds highlighted in Epipremnum aureum were Oleic acid (33.25%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (10.81%), cis-13-Octadecenoic acid (9.73%), and Phytol (4.51%). The Dracaena trifasciata showed the high percentage of 9, 12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)-methyl ester (23.44%), Oleic acid (18.51%), and n-Hexadecanoic acid (7.69%). The Rhapis excelsa was contained Oleic acid (32.31%) and n-Hexadecenoic acid (14.45%). Similarly, Ficus elastica was scored Fern-7-en-3β-ol (15.75%), Lup-20(29)-en-3-one (9.58%), β-Sitosterol (7.42%), with additional compounds such as Oleic acid (8.48%) and Squalene (5.65%). The plant Ravenea rivularis was consisting of Scoparone (39.85%), Oleic acid (9.42%), and Phytol acetate (6.84%) in greater amount comparatively. Schefflera arboricola main constituents were 9-Octadecenoic acid (E) (14.52%) and n-Hexadecanoic acid (9.94%). The richest compounds in Dracaena fragrans were Oleic acid (23.77%) and n-Hexadecanoic acid (22.50%) with some amount of other important compounds like 2-Methyl-7-phenylindole (5.18% and Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (4.99%). In addition to this, Aucuba japonica was mainly composed of Oleic acid (16.56%) and n-Hexadecanoic acid (16.56%). The two most important compounds in Syngonium podophyllum were Phytol (21.41%) and Oleic acid (19.17%). The chemical constituents observed in Opuntia microdasys were, 1-Butanol, 4-butoxy- (52.91%), Oleic acid (3.27%) and n-Hexadecanoic acid (3.88%). The presence of such chemical compounds in the analyzed indoor plants are highly valued for their potential to improve human health, sustainability, and the environment.