Fractionation and Identification of Phenolic Compounds from Ethylacetate Fraction of Ageratum Conyzoides Methanolic Leaf Extract

Abstract

Natural phenols are significant functional substances that are commonly present in plants and provide advantages for human health. Phenolics can be utilized for a variety of therapeutic applications, such as antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antidiabetic, and antibacterial activities. This work aimed to fractionate and identify the phenolic compounds present in ethylacetate fractions of the methanolic leaf extracts of A. conyzoides. Fractionation and purification of the ethylacetate fraction using column chromatography and TLC, followed by FTIR and LC-MS for identification, were employed in this work. While the FTIR spectroscopy was used to identify the fractions with –OH functional group, LCMS was used to identify the phenolics. After fractionation and purification, six ethylacetate samples were obtained, each with different Rf values, of which three showed a pronounced presence of OH functional groups in phenolics. Subsequently, four phenolic compounds were identified: furocoumaric acid, liquiritin, isorhamnetin, and syringin. This research has demonstrated that ethylacetate fraction of A. conyzoides methanol leaf extract is a good source of the phenolic compounds: Furocoumaric acid, Liquiritin, Isorhamnetin, and syringin.