Comparative Study of the Chemical Characterisation of Bioactive Compounds in Different Fractions of Ethanol Extract of Amaranthus Spinosus Leaves

In the evolution of pharmaceutical research, and to discover novel drugs, as well as therapeutic agents the exploration of plant-derived secondary metabolites offers a promising avenue. The current investigation has identified several phytochemicals in the various fractions of the sample being studied. Comparative study on the fractions showed certain phytocompounds were soluble in the solvents of fractionation. Compounds such as n-Hexadecenoic acid, Phthalic anhydride, Dodecanoic acid had affinity for both solvents, however, in varying concentrations as they were more abundant in the n-Hexane fraction. The result of the GCMS showed the presence of 12 compounds in the n-Hexane fraction, with the most abundant being cis-Vaccenic acid (40.39 %), n-Hexadecanoic acid (13.21 %), 9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)- (11.52 %), Octadecanoic acid (10.33 %), and Linoelaidic acid (9.84 %), which are reported to exhibit various biological activities. The FTIR analysis of this fraction further revealed functional groups such as Alcohol, Carboxylic acid, Alkene, Alkane, Aldehyde, Carbon dioxide, Nitrile, Allene, conjugated alkene, phenol, and Alkyl & Aryl Halides. GC-MS result of chloroform fraction further revealed the presence of 13 phytochemical compounds, of which the abundant phytochemical compounds are Linoelaidic acid (32.99 %), Z,Z-10,12-Hexadecadien-1-ol acetate (17.12 %), Nonanoic acid (14.81 %), and Cyclohexene, 4-pentyl-1-(4-propylcyclohexyl)- (12.08 %), while the FT-IR result showed the presence of sixteen (16) peaks, with functional groups such as Alcohols, phenols, thiol, thiocyanate, and δ-lactone. This study therefore infers that the pharmacological potential of the plant may be linked to the presence of the bioactive compounds in it as revealed by this study, however, recommended further study to identify the pharmacological activity of the other compounds with unknown activities, explore more pharmacological activities of the known compounds to solidify the claims on them further, and further carry out toxicity studies on the compounds to ascertain their safety.