Phytochemical Profiling of Dichloromethane Grain Extract of Digitaria exilis by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) and Its Pharmacological Relevance

Abstract

Many medicinal plants are used traditionally, but their active principles are unknown. Depending on the extraction solvent, medicinal plants contain myriads of phytochemicals and bioactive compounds, which are of pharmacognostic importance. Studying the pharmacological relevance of plant extracts is essential to discover new, effective, and safe therapeutic agents (drugs) for treating diseases, as they contain useful phytoconstituents and bioactive compounds. This study therefore focused on the phytochemical profiling of dichloromethane grain extract of Digitaria exilis (DGEDE) by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (LC-MS) and the pharmacological relevance of the identified compound. The extraction, phytochemistry and LC-MS of DGEDE was carried out using standard protocol. Phytochemical screening of DGEDE revealed the presence of alkaloids (2.57±0.03), tannins (1.89±0.02), phlobatannin (1.47±0.01), flavonoids (2.92±0.03), saponins (2.25±0.01), phenols (2.17±0.02), cardiac glycosides (0.39±0.01), terpenoids (0.78±0.01), steroids (0.63±0.01) and anthraquinone (1.21±0.01). LC-MS analysis of DGEGE, via positive mode, revealed thirty-three compounds, with various base peak (m/z) and retention time (minute), including buthylsopropylamine (114.233, 0.131); 2-butyl amino ethanol (116.123, 1.661); ethylmethylsilane (74.054, 10.954); N-(Octadecanoyl)-sphing-4-enine (565.844, 12.748); N-hexadecyl-5-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (323.384, 17.676) and ethanolamine (61.132, 18.764) among others. The compounds present in DGEDE were identified based on their mass-to-charge (m/z) ratio and fragmentation pattern. The identified compound with specific peaks (compounds) is responsible for certain therapeutic effects. The pharmacological importance of the dichloromethane (DCM) extract of D. exilis grain include purgative property, antidiabetic action, antioxidant potential, hepatoprotective benefit and lipid/obesity management ability. The study provides information to bridge the traditional knowledge about medicinal plants with modern drug discovery and evidence-based medicine.