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ESSENTIAL OIL COMPOSITION OF BAUHINIA VARIEGATA L.

FLOWERS

Neha Sharma1, Renu Bhardwaj

1, Bikram Singh

2, Satwinderjeet Kaur

1*

1Guru nanak Dev University, Department of Botanical and Environmental Sciences,

Amritsar-143005, India.

2CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Natural Plant Product Division,

Palampur, HP 176061, India.

ABSTRACT

Essential oils have a wide spectrum of use in medicine, flavouring and

fragrances. Bauhinia variegata L., commonly known as Kachnar, is a

medium-sized deciduous tree belonging to Fabaceae. It is used

traditionally against bronchitis, leprosy, tumors and ulcers. Flowers of

B. variegata are known for their medicinal value and are consumed

widely as vegetable and pickle in northern India. In the prsesnt study,

an attempt has been made to extract the essential oil from the flowers

of B. variegata using Clavenger’s apparatus which yeilded a light-

yellow oil. GC/MS analyses of the oil revealed nerolidol (20.80%), α-

bisabolol (17.08%) and β-bisabolene (10.13%) as the major

constituents.

Key words: α-bisabolol, β-bisabolene, Bauhinia variegata L., GC/MS,

Nerolidol

INTRODUCTION

Essential oils are complex mixtures of volatile plant secondary metabolites. The main

constituents of essential oils belong to various classes of natural products, namely terpenoids

(homo-, mono-, sesqui-, di-), fatty acid degradation products, phenylpropanoids, amino acid-

derived products, esters, aldehydes, and ketones.[1-4]

The concentration of essential oils range

from trace amounts to 1–2% or more and are the by-products of carbohydrate and fat

metabolism. These are either found in specialized cells, in a specific organ of a plant or these

may be distributed over many parts.[5]

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Article Received on

05 August 2013,

Revised on 25 August 2013,

Accepted on 28 September

2013

*Correspondence for

Author:

* Dr Satwinderjeet Kaur1

1Guru nanak Dev University,

Department of Botanical and

Environmental Sciences,

Amritsar-143005, India.

sjkaur2011@gmail.com,

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Sharma et al. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

Plants bearing essential oils have been widely as flavouring and pharmaceutical agents in

food and drugs since historic times. These impart fragrance and possess biological properties

like antifungal, antiviral, antibacterial and insecticidal actions.[6-9]

These find their uses in

sanitary, dentistry, perfumes and make-up products, as food preservatives and additives, and

as natural remedies. Few essential oils have also been claimed to cure organ dysfunction or

systemic disorder.[10-12]

The essential oil products vary in their chemical profile not only due

to the number of molecules but also in the stereochemical types of molecules extracted and

the type of extraction.

Bauhinia variegata Linn. (Fabaceae), commonly known as ‘Kachnar’, is widely distributed in

most tropical countries. Different parts of this plant are used in folk medicine to treat

different kinds of pathologies like diabetes, jaundice, infections, as well as pain and

inflammation. The flowers are edible and find their place in various cuisines and are widely

used as pickle in north India. The dried buds are used in the treatment of piles and worms.

The juice of the flowers is used to treat diarrhoea, dysentery and other stomach disorders.[13]

Keeping in view the ethnobotanical importance of B. variegata flowers, and the medicinal

implications of essential oils, an attempt has been made to extract and analyse the essential

oil composition of the flowers of B. variegata.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Plant Material

The plant material under study consisted of flowers of Bauhinia variegata L. collected from

Botanical garden of Guru Nanak dev University. The plant species was identified and

authenticated by Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, India.

Essential Oil Extraction

The flowers (250g) were subjected to hydrodistillation for 3 h using an all glass Clevenger-

type apparatus, to extract essential oil, according to the method recommended by the

European Pharmacopoeia.[14]

The extracted essential oil sample was dried over anhydrous

sodium sulphate and stored in sealed vial at 4°C before gas chromatography/mass

spectrometric (GC/MS) analysis.

GC/MS Analysis

The essential oil was analysed using a Shimadzu (QP2010) gas chromatograph mass

spectrometer (Tokyo, Japan), with AOC-20i auto-sampler coupled, and a DB-5MS capillary

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Sharma et al. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

column, (30 m x 0.25 mm i.d., 0.25μm). The initial temperature of column was 70°C held for

4 min and was programmed to 230°C at 4°C/min, then held for 15 min at 230°C; the sample

injection volume was 1μl in GC grade dichloromethane (DCM). Helium was used as carrier

gas at a flow rate of 1.1ml/min on split mode (1:50).

Identification of Essential Oil Components

To identify the compounds, their Retention index (RI) was compared with those reported in

the literature, and their mass spectrum was compared with NIST database[15]

and Adams

libraries.[16]

The Retention indices (RI) were calculated using retention times of n-alkanes

(C8-C24) which were injected after the oil at the same temperature and conditions.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

The hydrodistillation of the flowers of B. variegata yielded light-yellow coloured oil with a

yield of 0.3% (based on fresh weight). Thirty constituents have been detected in the flower

oil through GC-MS analysis (Figure 1). Out of these, twenty seven constituents have been

identified, which represented 97.71% of the total detected constituents. The composition of

essential oil is shown in Table 1 in the order of their elution from a DB-5 MS column.

Figure 1. GC/MS chromatogram of essential oil from Bauhinia variegata L. flowers.

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Table 1. Essential oil composition of Bauhunia variegata L. flowers

a Compounds are listed in order of their elution from a DB-5MS column as shown in Fig. 1

b Identification based on mass spectra and RI published and computer matching of the mass

spectra with NIST 1998 library (quality level more than 90%) as well as Adams, (2004)

Sr.

No. Peak

a Component

b Area% RI

c

1 1 (Z)- β-Farnesene 3.20 1454

2 2 2-Methyl-decane 1.28 1459

3 3 α-Curcumene 0.79 1482

4 4 β-Selinine 0.66 1489

5 5 β -Bisabolene 10.13 1507

6 7 cis-α-Bisabolene 1.23 1541

7 8 Nerolidol 20.80 1571

8 9 Lanceol 1.66 1623

9 10 Aromadendrene 2.03 1654

10 11 α-Bisabolol oxide-B 1.65 1662

11 12 1H-Cycloprop[e]azulene 0.77 1671

12 14 α-Bisabolol 17.08 1697

13 15 Farnesol 0.70 1743

14 16 Isopropyl myristate 1.17 1834

15 17 Hexahydrofarnesyl acetone 4.42 1861

16 18 Hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester 1.41 2026

17 19 Ethyl 9-hexadecenoate 0.88 2072

18 20 9-Hexadecenoic acid 0.75 2078

19 21 Hexadecanoic acid, ethyl ester 6.08 2093

20 22 Palmitic acid 4.81 2097

21 23 Octadecanal 0.74 2124

22 24 Hexadecadienoic acid, methyl ester 0.82 2194

23 25 8,11,14-Docosatrienoic acid methyl

ester

2.03 2200

24 26 Linoleic acid ethyl ester 3.51 2259

25 27 Dichloroacetic acid 6.59 2265

26 28 Ethyl n-heptadecanoate 1.57 2292

27 29 Octadecane 0.95 2296

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Sharma et al. World Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences

c RI-Retention indices relative to n-alkanes on DB-5MS column

The constituents identified in the present study belong to the class of sesquiterpenes,

glycerides or the fatty acids and to the categories of aliphatic acid esters, fatty esters,

aldehydes, aliphatic hydrocarbons and the terpene family. In plant kingdom, the occurrence

of essential oils is very widespread. Essential oils obtained traditionally from aromatic herbs

by hydrodistillation are gaining much use in aromatherapy because of the popular interest for

natural compounds having therapeutic properties as well as economical value.[17]

The

essential oil products vary in their chemical profile not only due to the number of molecules

but also in the stereochemical types of molecules extracted and the type of extraction chosen.

These further differ in quality, quantity and in composition depending on plant organ, age,

climate, soil composition and vegetative cycle stage.[18,19]

Among the total constituents

identified in the present study, nerolidol (20.80%), α-bisabolol (17.08%) and β-bisabolene

(10.13%) have been found to be the major ones in the essential oil of B. variegata flowers.

Nerolidol has been found to be present in essential oil of medicinal plants like Piper

claussenianum and Baccharis dracunculifolia DC. In a study using ethanol-, indomethacin-

and stress-induced ulcer models in rat, nerolidol was found to possess significant

antiulcerogenic activity.[20-21]

In human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2),

nerolidol has been observed to induce cell death and to arrest cell growth.[22]

Similarly, α-

bisabolol is receiving notable economic interest as it possesses a delicate floral odour and has

been found to possess several pharmacological activities. In the models of visceral

nociception induced by acetic acid as well as in the second phase of the nociception test

induced by the intraplantar administration of formalin, α-Bisabolol have demonstrated

significant anti-nociceptive activity.[23]

It is also present as an important constituent of Salvia

stenophylla which is used as a source of α-bisabolol used for aromatherapy and cosmetic

formulations.[24]

The another important constituent of B. variegata flowers, β-bisabolene is

also found in substantial amounts in the essential oil of Achillea millefolium and Alpinia

conchigera Griff.[25-26]

In larval zebrafish seizure assay guided fractionation of rhizomes of

Turmeric (Curcuma longa), bisabolene sesquiterpenoids were identified as additional

anticonvulsants that inhibited pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) induced seizures.[27]

CONCLUSIONS

In the field of medicine, research on essential oils is gaining pace. To the best of our

knowledge, this is the first report on the essential oil composition of the flowers of B.

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variegata L. extracted with hydrodistillation. As the essential oil of B.variegata flowers

contains an appreciable amount of nerolidol, α-bisabolol and β-bisabolene which have

considerable medicinal properties, it may find valuable applications in the field of medicine

and pharmaceuticals.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors are thankful to CSIR, New Delhi, India, for providing senior research fellowship

and Dr. PS Ahuja, Director, IHBT Palampur, India for providing necessary laboratory

facilities. Mrs. Vijaylata Pathania is also acknowledged for performing GC-MS analysis.

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