Title : Phytochemistry of the leaves of syzygium mundagam (Bourd.) chithra head space, essential oil and cuticular wax chemical profiling
Abstract:
Phytochemical profiling can be carried out using different analytical techniques, of which Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC-MS) has recently been evolved as a fast and comprehensive method for the analyses of Plant Volatile Organic Compounds (PVOCs). The present study reports the PVOCs profiling of the leaves of Syzygium mundagam (Bourd.) Chithra., a Western Ghats endemic species, belonging to the family Myrtaceae, with traditional medicinal applications. The leaf headspace volatile chemicals, leaf essential oil volatile chemicals and the leaf waxy cuticular chemical composition of S. mundagam were analysed through GC-MS. Headspace volatile constituents are responsible for most of the ecological interactions of the plant, and has applications in perfumery, insect control, food sectors. The major headspace volatile constituents were the aliphatic Green Leaf Volatile (GLV) compounds 3-hexanal, 2-hexanal, hexanal and Z-3-hexen 1-ol.
The essential oil represents the essence of the plant and represent the complete volatile chemicals in the plant part, and has wide medicinal and ecological applications. The acyclic diterpenoids phytol and isophytol, along with the aliphatic compound 6,10,14-trimethyl, 2-pentadecanone were the major essential oil compounds identified. The extracellular matrix cuticle is a shield against pathogens and regulates water retention in leaves. The aliphatic compounds tetracontane, n-tricosane, squalene, n-tetracosane, and nonacosanal were the major wax constituents. The micromorphological features of the plant have also been investigated, where epicuticular wax crystals and oil granules were detected. The study highlights the application of GC-MS for the rapid and comprehensive chemical characterisation of the plants that is yet to be explored. The data could be used in various sectors such as chemotaxonomy, chemical ecology, medicinal applications, perfumery, insect control and chemogenomics.
