Phytochemical profiling and GC-MS analysis of bioactive compounds in methanolic crude extract of Beta vulgaris (BV) root from Bangladesh

Beta vulgaris (BV) is distributed worldwide and has long been used as a culinary and in traditional medicine to treat diseases. The objective of the present study was to investigate the phytochemical constituents and the chemical fingerprinting of BV root of Bangladeshi origin. We performed qualitative conventional lab tests of colorimetric reactions with specific reagents to identify the presence of various phytochemical classes like alkaloids, flavonoids, saponins, carbohydrates, reducing sugars, tannins and steroids. To gain comprehensive insights into the chemical composition, we used gas chromatography and mass spectroscopy analysis (GC-MS). Finally, we employed computational methodologies, leveraging in‑silico physicochemical properties, pharmacokinetics, drug-likeness and medicinal chemistry friendliness analysis to identify compounds with favorable properties, increasing the likelihood of successful drug development. Phytochemical screening indicated that methanolic extract is rich in alkaloids, tannins, flavonoids, saponins, triterpenes, glycosides and carbohydrates. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of 69 chemicals, including alkaloids and amines, amino acids and derivatives, esters, and carbohydates. The annotation of the biological function of these compounds revealed many of them or their derivatives have reported disease-modifying functions (e.g., antidiabetic, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, cardioprotective, etc.). Further, cheminformatics analysis revealed that at least 20 molecules (e.g., 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-Pyrrolidinone, Pidolic acid, etc) possess not only higher concentration in beetroot but also a favorable profile for drug development. Overall, our findings of the present study contribute to understanding that the BV root can be used as a valuable source in the field of natural products drug discovery.