PROFILING OF ANTI-SICKLING CONSTITUENTS OF OILY ISOLATE FROM N-HEXANE FRACTION OF Telfairia Occidentalis (FLUTED PUMPKIN) LEAVES EXTRACT USING GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY –MASS SPECTROMETRY

The Telfairia occidentalis plant is a widely used green vegetable and medicinal plant among Nigerians, valued for its nutritional and blood-boosting properties. This study investigated the profiling of antisickling constituents using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The antisickling activity was assessed using freshly prepared 2% sodium metabisulfite (negative control) and fractionated plant extracts (positive control) against hemoglobin SS red blood cells (HbSS). The n-hexane fraction exhibiting antisickling activity was selected for isolation through chromatographic techniques. Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) monitoring of the hexane fraction (first eluate) with a dichloromethane: methanol (9:1) solvent system yielded a pure, oily sample with a single spot, which was analyzed by GC-MS. Major components identified included 2-undecene (retention time (Rt): 4.864; 11.6%) and propenoic acid (Rt: 1.139; 3.9%), an unsaturated carboxylic acid. The percentage of sickling reduction by the hexane extract on Hb-SS erythrocytes demonstrated a dose-dependent effect, with reductions of 13.84% (125 μg/mL), 11.11% (250 μg/mL), and 2.84% (500 μg/mL), indicating significant antisickling activity.