Qualitative and quantitative screening of phytochemical compounds of cymbidium bicolor leaf extract and evaluation of biological activity
Keywords:
Cymbidium bicolor, phytochemical profiling,, polar and non-polar solvents, total phenolic content, total flavonoid content,, total alkaloid content, GC–MS.Abstract
“The medicinal plants are main sources of bioactive compounds with diverse pharmacological properties, in
which cymbidium bicolor attracted scientific interest for the its rich phytochemical profile and therapeutic
potentials. In this study, objective is to conduct a preliminary phytochemical profiling of cymbidium bicolor
leaf extract, focusing on comparative solvent efficiency, quantification of key secondary metabolites, and also
characterisation of the associated bioactive compounds. The shade dried leaf powder was experienced to
Soxhlet extraction using solvents of different polarity, from non-polar to polar, to draw their comparative
extraction efficiency. The Qualitative screening shows flavonoids, terpenoids, tannins, phenols, saponins,
steroids, glycosides, coumarins, and quinones, with polar solvents providing a broader range of recognizable
phyto-constituents than the non-polar solvent. Quantitative result of total alkaloid, flavonoids, and phenolics
contents is carried out using standard spectrophotometric methods, with phenolic and flavonoid content
expressed as gallic acid equivalents (GAE) and quercetin equivalents (QE), respectively. Ethanol, being a
polar, shows markedly more extraction efficiency than the non-polar solvent, with yielding significantly more
phenolic, flavonoid, and alkaloid contents, related to its ability to solubilise polar and minimally polar
phytoconstituents meagre extracted by non-polar media. The ethanolic extraction was further characterised
using FTIR spectroscopy to find out functional groups, and GC–MS analysis to identify major phytochemical
content. These findings founded Cymbidium bicolor as a main source of pharmacologically related to
secondary metabolites and highlight the effect of solvent polarity on phytoconstituent yield and diversity,
giving a foundation for future isolation and characterisation of bioactive compounds with pharmaceutical
application”.
