Research Article

Medically Important Compounds in Ipomoea carnea Flowers

Arshad Javaid1*, Iqra Haider Khan1, Malik F. H. Ferdosi2, Aneela Anwar3 and Mujahid Manzoor4

1Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; 2Department of Horticulture, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; 3Department of Chemistry, University of Engineering and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan; 4Department of Entomology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan.

Received | March 22, 2023; Accepted | June 09, 2023; Published | June 27, 2023

*Correspondence | Arshad Javaid, Department of Plant Pathology, Faculty of Agricultural Sciences, University of the Punjab, Quaid-i-Azam Campus, Lahore 54590, Pakistan; Email: arshad.iags@pu.edu.pk, arshadjpk@yahoo.com

Citation | Javaid, A., I.H. Khan, M.F.H. Ferdosi, A. Anwar and M. Manzoor. 2023. Medically important compounds in Ipomoea carnea flowers. Pakistan Journal of Weed Science Research, 29(2): 115-121.

DOI | https://dx.doi.org/10.17582/journal.PJWSR/2023/29.2.115.121

Keywords | Bioactive compounds, Flowers, Ipomoea carnea, Methanolic extract, Shrub

Copyright: 2023 by the authors. Licensee ResearchersLinks Ltd, England, UK.

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Introduction

Plants bioactive compounds perform multiple biological functions such as antimicrobial, antiallergenic, anticarcinogenic, and antioxidant effects essential for the maintenance of good health in human (Ferdosi et al., 2021a; Khan and Javaid, 2022; Dinchenya et al., 2023). These bioactive compounds also have the ability to cure various diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders, cancer, cardiovascular diseases, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases (Javaid et al., 2022a; Dinchenya et al., 2023). In addition, plants also contain bioactive compounds which are anti-fibrotic, anti-tumor, anti-depressant, anti-protozoal, anti-helminthic, analgesics, immune stimulatory, antiviral, antioxidant, antifungal and anti-inflammatory in nature and also help in drugs discovery (Banaras et al., 2021; Agubosi et al., 2022; Muritala et al., 2022). Various horticultural and medicinal plants constitute a source of bioactive compounds, which are useful in killing the various bacterial species (Ferdosi et al., 2020). Isolation, identification and purification of various bioactive compounds of plant origin have shown important advancements in the recent years (Khan and Javaid, 2023).

Pink morning glory (Ipomoea carnea Jacq.), belongs to family Convolvulaceae, with a history of its use in traditional medicines (Figure 1). It is a shrub that can reach a height of 10 meters. It is indigenous to tropical and subtropical areas of the globe, such as Asia, Africa and South America (Wadnerwar and Deogade, 2022). Its leaves and flowers are used to heal gastrointestinal issues, skin conditions and snake bites in India. This plant is used to cure a variety of illnesses in Africa, including dysentery and fever (Dubey et al., 2022). A tea made from the plant is used in traditional Mexican medicine to manage diabetes and high blood pressure. I. carnea’s medicinal qualities have drawn more attention in recent years, and numerous scientific studies have been carried out to look into its possible health advantages. It possesses antibacterial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties (Filho et al., 2022). Its extracts can stop the development of common pathogens like Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus (Akshaya et al., 2023). Alkaloids, flavonoids and terpenoids, among other phytochemicals, are responsible for its antibacterial activity (Chandrakar et al., 2022). Its latex contains compounds such as L-rhamnose, jalapinolate, D-chinovose, convolvulinolate and ipurolic acid (Legler, 1965). Its leaves possess swainsonine, calystegines B1, B2, B3 and C1, 2-epi-lentiginosine and N-methyl-trans-4-hydroxy-L-proline (Adsul et al., 2009). Studies regarding phytochemical profile of its flowers especially from Pakistan are scarce (Kunal et al., 2021). Therefore, the present research work was undertaken to identify medicinally important compounds in methanolic flower extract of I. carnea through GC-MS analysis.

Materials and Methods

Collection of I. cornea flowers

Twenty Ipomea carnea flowers were collected from the plants growing along the bank of BRB canal 4 km towards east of Daska, district Sialkot during September 2022. The flowers were washed thoroughly under tap water. The moisture on the surface of the flowers was evaporated under a fan. These flowers were dried in an oven at 40 ºC and crushed into a course powder.

Preparation of methanolic extract

Five grams of dried powdered flowers of I. cornea were dipped in 10 mL of pure methanol in a conical flask. The mouth of the flask was tightly closed with a plastic sheet and left for one week at room temperature. After that, the soaked material was filtered and the filtrate (methanolic extract) was stored in a glass test tube.

 

GC-MS analysis

For identification of possible compounds in the flower extract of I. cornea, the extract was analyzed by GC-MS. For this purpose, the procedure described by Ferdosi et al. (2021b). The GC machine model 7890B and MS machine model 5977A (Agilent, USA) were used for analysis of the flower extract. The column was of 30 m × 0.25 µm × 0.25 μm. Injection volume was taken as 1 µL and it was used as a carrier gas in a split less mode. Oven ramping temperature was 80 ºC at the start that was increased by 10 ºC per min up to 300 ºC. Inlet temperature was 280 ºC. Total run time was 37 min. MS conditions included a scan range of 50–500 m/z with 5 min solvent delay time; and 230 ºC source temperature. The spectra were compared with NIST 2020 library version for the identification of compounds.

Literature survey

To gather information regarding biological activities of the compounds identified in the present study,

 

Table 1: List of compounds in methanolic flower extract of Ipomea carnea identified by GC-MS analysis.

S. No.	Names of compounds	Molecular formula	Molecular weight	Retention time (min)	Peak area (%)
1	Cyclopentanone, dimethylhydrazone	C7H14N2	126.20	10.290	5.93
2	4H-Pyran-4-one, 2,3-dihydro-3, 5-dihydroxy-6-methyl	C6H8O4	144.12	11.696	6.92
3	Caryophyllene	C15H24	204.35	17.302	11.28
4	Humulene	C15H24	204.35	17.963	5.82
5	Germacrene D	C15H24	204.35	18.416	12.44
6	Pentadecane	C15H32	212.41	18.622	6.20
7	α-Farnesene	C15H24	204.35	18.712	2.83
8	Pentadecanoic acid, 14-methyl-, methyl ester	C17H34O2	270. 45	25.382	1.46
9	n-Hexadecanoic acid	C16H32O2	256.42	25.878	12.15
10	Heptadecane	C17H36	240.47	27.294	3.38
11	9,12-Octadecadienoic acid, methyl ester, (E,E)-	C19H34O2	294.47	27.701	0.91
12	Heptadecane, 2,6,10,15-tetramethyl-	C21H44	296.57	27.788	3.10
13	9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)-	C18H32O2	280.44	28.197	1.69
14	cis-Vaccenic acid	C18H34O2	282.46	28.276	3.72
15	cis-7-Hexadecenoic acid	C16H30O2	254.41	28.341	2.45
16	Octadecanoic acid	C18H36O2	284.47	28.583	4.05
17	Dotriacontane	C32H66	450.86	29.869	5.91
18	Nonadecane	C19H40	268.52	30.324	2.02
19	Docosane	C22H46	310.60	32.243	7.68

 

an online broad survey of the related published article was carried out. For this purpose, well-reputed databases such as Google Scholar, Science Direct, PubMed, Directory of Open Access Journals, Crossref and SciELO were surveyed.

Results and Discussion

GC-MS chromatogram is shown in Figure 2 that shows 19 compounds in the extract. Their details are shown in Table 1. Among these, three compounds namely germacrene D (12.44%), n-hexadecanoic acid (12.15%), and caryophyllene (11.28%) were recognized as the major constituents in the flower extract with 18.416, 25.878 and 17.302 min retention times, respectively. The most abundant compound germacrene D is a sesquiterpene that has also been reported as a major compound in many plant species including Guatteria australis and Siparuna aspera (Siqueira et al., 2015; Noriega et al., 2019). It is a very active biological molecule. It has the ability to activate an antennal receptor neuron of a moth Heliothis virescens (Rostelien et al., 2000). In addition, this compound also possesses antioxidant properties with DPPH IC50 of 2.1 mg mL-1 (Noriega et al., 2019). Moreover, it also showed insecticidal effects against mosquitoes, and repellent activity against ticks and aphids (Noge and Becerra, 2009). Caryophyllene is also a sesquiterpene that like germacrene D generally occurs in essential oils. It has also been found in methanolic extract of Ageratum conyzoides flowers as reported by Ferdosi et al. (2021b). It is an antimicrobial agent and is used in food industry (Pieri et al., 2016). Moreover, many other activities such as anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antioxidant have also been associated with this compound (Dahham et al., 2015). The third major comound n-hexadecanoic acid is an important bioactive compound found in many plant species such as Chenopodium murale, Vinca major and Tagetes erecta (Javaid et al., 2021a; Ferdosi et al., 2022; Naqvi et al., 2022). It is an antifungal agent and can control the growth of various Candida species namely C. krusei, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis and C. albicans (Souza et al., 2015). In addition, it also possesses anti-inflammatory potential (Aparna et al., 2012), and cytotoxic effect against human colorectal carcinoma cells (Ravi and Krishman, 2017).

Ten compounds viz. docosane (7.68%), 4H-pyran-4-one, 2, 3-dihydro-3, 5-dihydroxy-6-methyl (6.92%), pentadecane (6.20%), cyclopentanone, dimethylhydrazone (5.93%), dotriacontane (5.91%), humulene (5.82%), octadecanoic acid (4.05%), cis-vaccenic acid (3.72%), heptadecane (3.38%), and heptadecane, 2,6,10,15-tetramethyl- (3.10%) were identified as moderately occurring ones (Table 1). Among these, humulene appeared at 17.963 min retention time, has therapeutic potential against the growth of Bacteroides fragilis that causes inflammatory bowel disease (Jang et al., 2020). In addition, humulene isolated from leaves of Hibiscus manihot showed antioxidant activity as reported by Gunawan et al. (2016). Likewise, dotriacontane that appeared at 29.869 min in the GC-MS chromatogram, was previously isolated from Drimia sanguinea, Senecio longiflorus and Helichrysum paronychioides showed a number of biological activities such as antioxidant and antimicrobial (Asong et al., 2019).

Six compounds including cis-7-hexadecenoic acid (2.45%), nonadecane (2.02%), 9, 12-octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)- (1.69%), pentadecanoic acid, 14-methyl-, methyl ester (1.46%), and 9, 12-octadecadienoic acid, methyl ester, (E, E)- (0.91%) were designated as less abundant ones (Table 1). The last two compounds which were appeared at 25.382 and 27.701 min in the chromatogram, respectively, have also been reported in roots of Senna occidentalis (Javaid et al., 2022b). 9, 12-octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)- was previously reported from Cannabis sativa (Javaid et al., 2021b). Being a fatty acid methyl ester, it may act as an antimicrobial agent (Chandrasekaran et al., 2011).

Conclusions and Recommendations

I. carnea flowers are very rich in bioactive compounds. The major compounds in the flowers were germacrene D (12.44%), n-hexadecanoic acid (12.15%), and caryophyllene, all possess various biological properties such as antimicrobial, cytotoxicity, antioxidant, insecticidal, insect repellant, anticancer and anti-inflammatory. Although 19 compounds were identified in the present study where compounds are known for their biological activities, but there is need of further studies to identify more compounds using other spectroscopic techniques. GC-MS has its limitations. Only volatile compounds can be identified through this technique. Therefore, further studies are suggested to use LC-MS, NMR and mass spectrometry etc. for identification of other compounds.

Acknowledgement

Authors are grateful to the administration of Faculty of Agricultural Sciences for proving facilities to carry out this research work.

Novelty Statement

In this paper, GC-MS analysis of flowers of Ipomoea carnea was carried out to identify possible medically important compounds. Such reports from I. carnea plants growing in district Sialkot, Pakistan are lacking.

Author’s Contribution

Arshad Javaid: Perceived the idea, supervised the whole research work and finalized the paper. Iqra Haider Khan: Contributed in paper writing. Malik F. H. Ferdosi: Collected and processed the plant materials for GC-MS analysis.

Aneela Anwar: Supervised and discussed the work related to GC-MS analysis.

Mujahid Manzoor: Contributed in paper writing.

Conflict of interest

The authors have declared no conflict of interest.

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