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British Journal of Healthcare and Medical Research - Vol. 10, No. 6

Publication Date: December 25, 2023

DOI:10.14738/bjhmr.106.16174.

Veronica, F. T. (2023). GC-MS and Phytochemical Analysis of Leaf Extract of Cassia Alata Used in the Treatment of Tinea Capitis.

British Journal of Healthcare and Medical Research, Vol - 10(6). 348-359.

Services for Science and Education – United Kingdom

GC-MS and Phytochemical Analysis of Leaf Extract of Cassia Alata

Used in the Treatment of Tinea Capitis

Folorunso Temitayo Veronica

Department of Microbiology, Adekunle Ajasin University,

P.M.B. 001, Akungba Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

Medicinal plants are rich source of bioactive phytochemicals Several thousands of

plants species have been claimed to possess medicinal properties and employed in

the treatment of many ailments. The study aimed to examine the bioactive

compounds present in Cassia alata Linn as well as the physiochemical properties.

Fresh leaves of cassia alata were collected from Akungba Akoko in Ondo State while

the preparation of extract was also carried out. The analysis of Cassia alata leaf

extract was performed using a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS

QP2010 PLUS Shimadzu, Japan) techniques. GC-MS analysis of leaves of Casia alata

ethanol extract showed the presence of components at the different retention time.

The bioactive compound from GC-MS chromatogram of Casia alata showed at 48

peaks with n-hexadecanoic acid and the molecular weight in gram was 256.

42g/mol while the retention time is at 14.801. The finding of this study provides an

insight into the usage of these plants in traditional medicine for the treatment of

common fungal infections. The bioactive compound present in ethanolic extract of

the leaves of C. alata can contribute to the medicinal quality of the plant.

Keywords: Cassia alata, GC-MS, Medicinal plants and Phytochemicals

INTRODUCTION

Cassia alata Linn.was scientifically classified under the family Caesalpiniaceae. Ringworm weed

is the common name and it is an annual herb with compounded leaves. This plant has been

potentially used in medicinal system because of presence of wide range of bioactive molecules,

developing the rich resource of different types of medicines. Cassia alata is one of the most

important species in the genus of Cassia (Meenupriya et al., 2014). C. alata contains rich amount

of anthraquinones and polyphenols (Gritsanapan and Mangmeesri, 2009). Antimicrobial

activity of the plant is associated with the presence of other phytochemical components such

as phenols, tannis, saponins, alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids and carbohydrates (Makinde et al.,

2007). Various extracts and different parts of Cassia alata have been reported to own many

pharmacological activities such as laxative (Adnan, 2011), antifungal (Palanichamy and

Nagarajan, 1990), wound healing (Midawa, 2010), hypoglycaemic (Palanichamy, 1988), anti- bacterial (El-Mahmood and Doughari, 2008), anthelmintic (Suman, 2012), analgesic

(Palanichamy and Nagarajan, 1990), anti- inflammatory (Villasenor and Sanchez, 2009),

Abortifacient (Yakubu et al., 2010) and Anti-lipogenic activity (Jarinyaporn and Supaporn,

2016).

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349

Veronica, F. T. (2023). GC-MS and Phytochemical Analysis of Leaf Extract of Cassia Alata Used in the Treatment of Tinea Capitis. British Journal of

Healthcare and Medical Research, Vol - 10(6). 348-359.

URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.14738/bjhmr.106.16174.

Crushed leaves of this plant are effective in treating various skin diseases like ringworm,

eczema, pruritis, itching, and scabies in humans (Reezal et al., 2002; Igoli et al., 2005).

Moreover, leaves were used to prepare herbal tea, herbal soaps, shampoos and skin care

cosmetic products to cure dermatological skin diseases (Falodun et al., 2006). In this screening

study for antidermatophytes compounds from C. alata was performed by evaluating activity of

hexane extract of C. alata leaves and also study the DPPH scavenging assay. Senna alata which

is an official drug in the Nigerian Herbal Pharmacopoiea (NHP, 2008), is locally used in Nigeria

in the treatment of wound infections, bronchitis and asthma as well as several infections, which

include ringworm, parasitic skin diseases (Palanichamy et al., 1990).

The leaves are reported to be useful in treating convulsion, gonorrhoea, heart failure,

abdominal pains and oedema is also used as a purgative (Ogunti et al., 1993). Ibrahim and

Osman (1995) reported that ethanol extract of the plant showed high activity against fungi:

Trichophyton mentagrophytes var interdigitale, T. mentagrophytes var. mentographytes, T.

rubrum and Microsporum gypseum (MIC: 125 mg/ml) and (M1C: 25 Microsporium canis mg/ml).

Several studies have been conducted to provide scientific basis for the efficacy of it plants used

in herbal medicine (Akinsinde et al., 1995; Akinyemi et al., 2000). Abubakar et al., (2008) stated

that aqueous extract of C. alata can be used as potential antifungal agent. They observed that

the aqueous extract of C. alata had effect on Aspergillus. flavus, A. parasiticus, F. oxysporum and

C. albicans.

AIM AND OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

This study was designed to investigate GC-MS and phytochemical analysis of leaf extract of

cassia alata used in the treatment of tinea capitis

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Collection of Plant and Preparation of Extract

The plants materials were collected from different locations in Akungba Akoko between

7:00am and 11:00 am and authenticated at the Herbarium of Plant Science and Biotechnology,

Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko for authentication.

Selected fresh plants materials collected and cleaned with 70% ethanol. They were air dried at

28oC for 10 to 15 days and grinded to powder form by grinder (Atlas, UK). 400grams of the

leaves part of the plant was sliced, grounded and placed into a 1. 2 liters of ethanol solvents and

covered in air-tight container with a cork, mixed together and left on the shaker at 37oC for

216hrs after which the filtrate was then evaporated with rotary evaporator at 77/78 revolution

per minute (rpm) for 5 minutes after which it was decanted. The extracts yielded a dark

greenish residual mass. The extracts were then kept in sterile bottles until further experiment

according to Akinyemi et al., (2005).

GC- MS ANALYSIS

The GC-MS analysis of ethanolic leaf extract of Casia alata was performed using a GC-MS

QP2010 PLUS Shimadzu, Japan. Interpretation on mass spectrum of GC-MS was done using the

database of National Institute Standard and Technology (NIST), having more than 62,000

patterns (Omotoyinbo and Sanni, 2015)