Study on the Chemical Composition and Antioxidant Activity of Extracts from Wild and in vitro Raised Endangered Medicinal Plant Ephedra gerardiana

Abstract

Ephedra gerardiana is an important medicinal plant known for its tremendous medicinal potential since ages. The plant has been utilized in the treatment of several ailments. The plant possesses several biologically active phytoconstituents which are responsible for its medicinal value. The present study was conducted to identify such phyto-compounds through GC-MS study and also to evaluate the antioxidant potential of the plant. Methanolic extract of wild plant and in vitro raised plantlet were utilized for determining antioxidant value and GC-MS analysis. In vitro raised plants exhibited enhanced production of flavonoids with prominent antioxidant activity as compared to the mother plant. On the contrary, the level of tannin was found to be higher in the mother plant. GC-MS study revealed the presence of a total of 34 and 43 phyto-compounds in mother and in-vitro raised plants respectively. 9-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (24.66%), 9-octadecenoic acid, 1,2,3 propanetriyl ester (10.75%), Phytol (8.8%) and 2(5H)- Furanone, 3-hydroxy-4,5-dimethyl (7.41%) were major compounds found in mother plant and Morpholine (28.93%), 9-Octadecenoic acid, methyl ester (20.45%), Hexadecanoic acid, 2-Hexadecen-1-ol (16.16%) were major compounds found to be present in methanolic extract of the wild plant