Chemical composition of organic extracts of Phyla nodiflora L. in Syria by GC-MS

Introduction: Phyla nodiflora L. is a perennial herbaceous plant belonging to the Verbenaceae family. It is widely used as an herbal drink to treat many diseases. It has antioxidant, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties. In traditional medicine, it is used to treat skin infections. However, there is little information on the chemical composition of organic plant extracts. Therefore, the aim of this study was to determine the chemical composition of organic extracts of P. nodiflora L. Methods: In this study, organic extracts were prepared using a continuous Soxhlet extractor and four different solvents with increasing polarity from nonpolar to polar solvents (petroleum ether, chloroform, ethyl acetate, and isopropanol) to ensure the possibility of extracting a wide range of compounds. GC-MS analysis was performed to determine the chemical constituents of the organic extracts. Results: Nineteen compounds were identified in the petroleum ether (Et) extract, 14 in the chloroform (Ch) extract, 18 in the ethyl acetate (Ea) extract and 15 in the isopropanol (Is) extract. The most important compounds in the Et extract were 1,1-diethoxyethane (33.9 %) and nonadecane (19.9 %). The most important compound in the Ch extract was octacosane (37.4 %). The most important compounds in the Ea extract were 3-hydroxy-dodecanoic acid (17.7 %) and geranyl isovalerate (15.5 %). The most important compound in the Is extract was behenic acid alcohol (18.6 %). The chemical structures of the major compounds were confirmed by mass spectrometry by studying their fragmentation mechanism and comparing the molecular weights of the resulting fragments with the molecular weights of the peaks present in each mass spectrum. Conclusions: The results of this study show that the dominant compounds in nonpolar extracts (petroleum ether and chloroform) are hydrocarbons, ethers, epoxides, and silicon compounds, while the dominant compounds in moderately polar extracts (ethyl acetate and isopropanol) are alcohols, carbonyl compounds, and oxygenated terpenes.