ISOLATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF HEXANE EXTRACT OF JUSTICIA CARNEALEAVES

ABSTRACT

Justicia carnea has been used in traditional medicine in Nigeria to manage a diverse range of ailments, including inflammation, cancer, gastrointestinal issues, diabetes, liver diseases, anemia, respiratory infections, and more. However, despite its wide use and varied applications, the efficacy of this plant species as a therapeutic agent has yet to be proven through rigorous scientific investigation. Justicia carnea leaves were collected, dried and pulverized. Then, the powdered sample was extracted using methanol solvent and screened for the presence of phytochemicals. The crude methanol extract was then subjected to vaccum liquid chromatography (VLC) using selected solvent system from hexane (100%), hexane:acetate(50%:50%); (100%) acetate and (100%) methanol. In this work, the (100%) hexane fraction was chosen and dried to afford a light yellow oil. This isolate was then characterized by gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Preliminary phytochemical analyses of the plant extracts revealed the presence of various secondary metabolites such as Glycosides, Phenolics, Alkaloids, Reducing sugar. The main constituents detected from the isolated yellow oil of Justicia carnea leaves obtained from the GC-MS analysis of hexane (100%) fraction includes Phytol , 2-methyloctacosane and Heneicosane among others. This strictly shows that the oil of Justicia carnea is rich in phytol which possess physiological effect in organisms