Antioxidative constituents from petroleum ether extract of curcuma longa leaves / Nurhidayah Osman and Aiza Harun

Curcuma longa which is traditionally known as turmeric is a well-known plant species with
valued medicinal purposes as well as an ingredient in food industry. Curcuma longa leaves
were believed to contain secondary metabolites with amazing antioxidant properties. Thin
layer chromatographic (TLC) technique was implemented to screen antioxidative
phytochemicals and preparative thin layer chromatography for isolation purposes. The
identification of antioxidative constituents was performed using Gas Chromatography Mass
Spectrometer (GCMS) with Wiley database matching individually. TLC screening which
revealed petroleum ether extract has higher contribution of antioxidative constituents
compared to dichloromethane and methanol extracts and hence it was selected for isolation
process of antioxidative constituents. GCMS analysis proposed antioxidative constituents
from C.longa leaves as (A) (2,4cyclopentadien-1-ylidenemethyl) benzene, (B)1,3-dimethyl
benzene,(C)Estra-1,3,5(10)-trien-17β-ol,(D)1-methylene-1HIndene,(E)1methylcyclopentanol
after analyzing with GCMS aided with Wiley Database matching individually. According to
its potent antioxidant properties, the use of C. longa leaves should be taking into
consideration in the development of new natural medicine for the treatment of various
diseases.