Objective: Investigation and identification of antioxidative compounds of methanolic flower extract of S. venulosa and ethyl acetate stem bark extract of S. wallichiana (Araliaceae) from Western Ghats.
Methods: Powdered stem bark and flower materials were subjected to Soxhlet extraction using various solvents according to their polarity. The methanolic flower extract of S. venulosa and the ethyl acetate stem bark extract of S. wallichiana were reconstituted in the respective solvents. One μl of the extracts was injected for GC-MS analysis. The fragmentation patterns of mass spectra were compared with those stored in the spectrometer database using the National Institute of Standards and Technology Mass Spectral (NIST-MS) database.
Results: The methanolic flower extract of S. venulosa revealed the presence of 120 compounds whereas ethyl acetate stem bark extract of S. wallichiana showed the presence of 115 compounds. Among those, 23 compounds from methanol flower extract of S. venulosa and 25 compounds from the ethyl acetate stem bark extract of S. wallichiana have been identified as the probable antioxidant compounds based on the functional groups they possess.
Conclusion: Many bioactive compounds were identified from two Schefflera species. Thus, the identification of different biologically active compounds in these extracts warrants further biological and pharmacological studies.
