Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry Analysis and Bioactive Potential of Selected Medicinal Plants

Plants offer unlimited source of bioactive compounds that have tremendous applications in pharmaceutical industry to find new sources of medicinal plants (MPs) were evaluated. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry were used to identify the bioactive compounds of selected medicinal plants. Both extracts contained multiple compounds. The most abundant ones were 3,4-dimethyl-1,5-hexadiene-3,4-diol (7.93%), tau-cadinol (5.84%), and adenosine, N6-phenylacetic acid (5.84%) in one extract. In the other extract, the major compounds were 2-methylcumarone (16.92%), 7-methylbenzo[b]furan (14.81%), and (3E,5E)-3,5-octadien-2-one (10.25%). Some of these compounds have antimicrobial, anticancer, and antioxidant properties. Antioxidant tests showed that Solanum nigrum had the highest antioxidant activity (96.59% at 14.4 concentration), followed closely by Artemisia scoparia (96.55% at 13.2 μg/mL), Tribulus longipetalus (94.76% at 13.6 μg/mL), and Mentha longifolia, which had the lowest (81.94% at 18.4 μg/mL), whereas ascorbic acid, the standard, had the highest value (98.34% μg/mL). The antimicrobial properties of four selected MPs were evaluated. The plant T. longipetalus exhibited the highest zones of inhibition (18 and 20.5 mm) against Pseudomonas aeruginosa at concentrations of 12 and 24 mg/mL. The other plants also inhibited various fungi, including Alternaria alternata and Fusarium oxysporum, though to a lesser extent.