DELVING INTO PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS AND ANTIOXIDANT POTENTIAL OF ETHYLACETATE LEAF EXTRACT OF GOSSYPIUM HIRSUTUM LINN – A RESEARCH ARTICLE

Abstract

Gossypium hirsutum is an important plant with therapeutic properties; hence this study seeks to screen the leaf extract for its chemical composition and antioxidant activities to find possible natural sources of novel phytochemicals in pharmaceutical formulations. The qualitative and quantitative phytochemicals screening was conducted using standard procedure, the chemical composition was determined using gas chromatography mass spectrophotometer (GC/MS) while the antioxidant activities was determined using three assays, DPPH, ABTS and NOS. The qualitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponin, alkaloid, phenol, tannin, phytate, steroids, terpenoids, flavonoids and proanthocyanidin. Alkaloid was conspicuously absent in the extract. The qualitative phytochemical screening revealed the presence of saponins, alkaloids, flavonoids, steroids, phytates, terpenoids and proanthocyanidin in different concentrations in which total phenol is the highest 552.64±35.30 mg/100g. In comparison, total saponin is the lowest 22.25±1.41 mg/100g. The GC/MS analysis revealed the presence of 24 compounds which include caryophyllene with the highest percentage composition 33.62%. The antioxidant activities of the extract revealed that the extract has moderate antioxidant activities with EC50 of 12.12, 6.01 and 5.01 mg/mL. In conclusion, the leaf extract demonstrated antioxidant properties suitable for exploration in new drug development.