Identification of volatile constituents and biological activities of Sophora alopecuroides of Balochistan

Abstract

Sophora alopecuroides belongs to genus Sophora and family Fabaceae. It consists of approximately 60 to 70 species. The present research work was performed for the identification of volatile constituents along with antibacterial and anti-inflammatory activities of Sophora alopecuroides. The plant was collected from Kalat, Balochistan.  The n-hexane fraction of the plant was evaluated for the determination of volatile compounds by using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to identify the functional groups of the compounds. The methanolic extract of the plant was evaluated for anti-inflammatory and antibacterial by using chemiluminescence protocol and agar well diffusion method respectively. The GC-MS analysis showed the presence of 34 volatile compounds. The FTIR spectra of methanolic extract showed the presence of functional groups such as alcohol, alkane, carbonyl compound and ester. The plant extract showed moderate antibacterial activity against gram positive Staphylococcus aureus and gram negative Escherichia coli bacterial strains, and with zones of inhibition of 19 mm and 21 mm respectively. The plant extract exhibited strong activity IC₅₀ 56.14± 2.82 for anti-inflammatory activity against standard drug ibuprofen. The plant showed the presence of significant number of volatile compounds which belongs to different classes of compounds. It is further suggested that Sophora alopecuroides may further be studied for the isolation of naturally occurring compounds and more pharmacological activities.