Abstract

Medicinal plants and its products remain the best therapeutic agents for the management of diseases and infections that affect the health of man. Owing to the recorded ethnomedicinal potentials of Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray, this study was aimed at investigating the gas chromatography combined with mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectral analyses of methanolic extract of leaves of T. diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray using standard analytical methods. Results of the GC-MS spectral analysis of methanolic leaf extract of T. diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray showed the existence of the following twenty nine (29) bioactive compounds: Ethylene oxide (2.04%), 1-Butanamine, 3-methyl- (0.71%), N-(3-Methylbutyl) acetamide (3.11%), Cyclopentane, 2-n-octyl- (3.33%), Cyclobutanol (0.73%), dl-Phenylephrine (1.53%), Phenylephrine (1.69%), Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (2.31%), 1,3-Cyclohexanediol (2.08%), Amphetamine (1.69%), n-Hexadecanoic acid (17.53%), 8-[N-Aziridylethylamino]-2,6-dimethyloctene-2 (0.85%), Benzenemethanol, .alpha.-[(methylamino)methyl]- (0.58%), folic acid (1.32%), acetic acid, hydroxy[(1-oxo-2-propenyl)amino]- (1.11%), cis-Vaccenic acid (19.20%), Octadecanoic acid (7.67%), acetic acid, [(aminocarbonyl)amino]oxo-  (0.85%), cis-11-Eicosenoic acid (4.50%), 4-Fluorohistamine (2.20%), 2,3-Dimethoxyamphetamine (0.74%), Benzeneethanamine, 2-fluoro-.beta. ,5-dihydroxy-N-methyl- (2.62%), 2-Propenamide, N-(1-cyclohexylethyl)- (1.73%), Erucic acid (5.82%), Acetamide, 2,2,2-trichloro- (0.85%), 2-Methoxy-N-methylethylamine (2.45%), acetic acid, chloro-, pentyl ester (4.97%), p-Hydroxynorephedrine (1.61%) and Metaraminol (1.28%); with Cis-vaccenic acid, n-Hexadecanoic acid and Octadecanoic acid as the most predominant bioactive compounds residents in the plant whereas that of Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) showed the existence of alcohols, phenols, aldehydes, ketones, alkanes and primary amines. Based on these findings, it is opined that the methanolic extract of leaves of T. diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray could be relied upon in traditional medicine for the management of certain infections and diseases that plague man especially those that dwell in rural areas.

Key words: Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS), bioactive compounds, methanol extract, functional group, Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) A. Gray.