European Journal of Medicinal Plants

Bioactive compounds are the frontline potent agents in both nutraceuticals and pharmaceutical industries. The bioactive compounds are gaining much importance for their ability in enhancing resistance to various diseases and to improve the health of people both by traditional and modern ways of administrations. R. vomitoria is one of the medicinal plants used traditionally to manage hypertension, diabetes and mental disorder. This present study sought to characterize the bioactive components of R. vomitoria leaf and root ethanol extracts using Gas-Chromatography-Mass Spectrophotometry (GC-MS). The results of the GC-MS analysis provide different peaks indicating the presence of 22 phytochemicals in the plant leaf and 16 phytochemicals in the root. The major bioactive compounds in the leaf were squalene (18.69%), phytol (16.47%), n-hexadecanoic acid (15.68%), 7-tetradecenal, (Z) (12.90%), 9,12,15-octadecatrienoic acid, ethyl ester, (Z,Z)-, (9.56%) and others, while the roots contains; cis-vaccenic acid (32.13%), n-hexadecanoic acid (15.41%), (E)-9-octadecenoic acid ethyl ester (9.83), cyclohexanecarbonitrile 1-(-4- chlorophenyl (9.45%), 8H-azeceno[5,4-b] indol-8-one, 5-ethylidene (7.66%) and other minor compounds. Pharmacological activities of these compounds indicated that the compounds present in the leaf of the plant can be used as a crude drug which could be developed into a novel drug. Some of these compounds have antimicrobial, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, hypocholesterolemic as well as cancer preventive activities amongst others. The findings suggest that there is an indication that both R. vomitoria leaves and roots contain potent bioactive compounds that may be linked to its beneficial effects on health, with the leaf taking the lead. It is therefore recommended as a plant of phytopharmaceutical significance.