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Plant Science Today (PST)

Research Articles

Vol. 13 No. 3 (2026)

Total content, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry profiling and in silico studies of phytoconstituents from the ethanolic leaf extract of Plumeria caracasana J.R. Johnst.

DOI
https://doi.org/10.14719/pst.13340
Submitted
24 December 2025
Published
19-06-2026 — Updated on 01-07-2026
Versions

Abstract

Plant material has been a major source of bioactive compounds for the treatment of various diseases and for drug development. The extracts of Plumeria pudica Jacq. have been studied for various diseases, but there have been no reports on the total content and docking studies related to the mechanistic antiepileptic action of the ethanolic extract of leaves of P. pudica. Hence, the study aimed to provide relevant information on the phytoconstituents present in the extracts of P. Pudica using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and in in silico studies. The leaves of P. pudica were ground into a fine powder and extracted using 6 different solvents. The total flavonoid, phenolic and alkaloid content was then determined following a preliminary qualitative analysis. To determine the presence of specific bioactive substances, such as flavonoids, alkaloids, terpenoids, phenolic compounds, steroids and fatty acids, preliminary phytochemical screening was conducted. In total content analysis, the total phenolic content was maximum in ethanolic extract (23.81 ± 0.148 mg GAE/g), methanol extract showed the highest alkaloid and flavonoid content of (30.93 ± 0.855 mg AE/g) and (12.02 ± 0.084 mg QE/g) respectively. The GC-MS profiling of the P. pudica leaf extract in 6 solvents revealed the presence of 16 phytoconstituents in the n-hexane extract, 8 in petroleum ether, 12 in chloroform, 17 in ethanol, 19 in methanol and 9 in the aqueous extract respectively. The phytoconstituents present in the ethanolic extract were screened for antiepileptic activity through in silico studies and the molecular docking scores were highest for 2-cyclohexen-1-one, 3-methyl-ethyl- and Pregnan-3,11-diol-20-one, with scores of -2.899 and -2.839 kcal/mol respectively, compared with the standard Diazepam, which was -3.295 kcal/mol. To gain a better understanding of the mechanism of action and toxicity profile, additional research is necessary for both in vitro and in vivo evaluations.

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