Cyperus rotundus L., commonly known as nutgrass or nagarmotha, is commonly used in the traditional medicine for the treatment of inflammatory disorders. In the present study, constitution of n-hexane soluble extract of C. rotundus rhizomes (HCR) was analyzed by GC-MS. The rhizomes were collected, washed, shade dried and powdered. HCR was prepared by cold percolation method and preliminary phytochemical screening was carried out. It was subjected to Gas Chromatography coupled with Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS) for the identification of components thereon. Preliminary phytochemical screening of HCR revealed the presence of phenolics, sterols and terpenoids. Twenty seven low polar components were identified. The major identified compounds included hentriacontane (7.15%), triacontane (6.12%), nonacosane (5%), octacosane (4.38%), octadecane (2.35%), hexadecane (2.32%), eicosane (1.56%), pentatriacontane (1.43%), 9-di-tert-butyl-1-oxaspiro(4,5)deca-6,9-diene-2,8-dione (1.37%), Heneicosane, 3-methyl- (1.27%), α-cyperone (1.25%), heptadecane (1.15%) and gamma-Sitosterol (1%). As some of these constituents are known to possess anticancer activity, HCR could be used as an active therapeutic ingredient.
Key words: Cyperus rotundus, phytoconstituents, volatile constituents, anticancer
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