Extraction and phytochemical screening of the pandanus root caps / Wan Zuhaira Amirah Wan Amran

Pandanus is the largest genera in Pandanaceae family. The Pandanus species is usually found along coastal region from the Southeast Asia to the Pacific Island. Almost all parts of Pandanus species have been used for many purposes in daily life. For example the leaves are used as colouring and flavoring agents in cooking. Other than that the bark and large branches are used in construction of houses. Besides all of the non-medical values, Pandanus species also have been traditionally used as medications for the treatment of several diseases such as fever, stomach cramp, joint pain and many more. Amazingly, some of the medical properties of Pandanus species are proven by several scientific researches and the active constituents responsible for the effects were successfully identified and isolated. The objectives of this research are to study the biomedical properties of the Pandanus species as well as to screen and isolate chemical constituents that may present in the root caps of the plant. In this research paper, the focus is on two species which are Pandanus tectorius (P. tectorius) and Pandanus dubius (P. dubius). The biomedical properties of Pandanus species are studied based on the literature review of recent studies. To isolate the chemical constituents of the root caps of the plants, extraction was performed. For this purpose, the samples were reduced into smaller particles by grinding and milling prior to maceration in methanol solvent. The crude extract was subjected to thin layer chromatography (TLC) and preparative TLC. Six compounds were successfully isolated. Finally, two compounds L1 and 83 were chosen to be analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. However, only NMR for 83 gave more promising information and was proposed to be a triterpene.