GCMS Analysis of Leaves and Seeds of Piper guineense Shumach & Thoon

This study was undertaken to investigate the ethanolic extract of the leaves and seeds of P. guineense for its bioactive constituents using GCMS. The shade dried and pulverized leaves and seed were extracted with absolute ethanol by Soxhlet method to obtain a crude extract. The GCMS analysis was carried out on a GC; Clarus 500 Perkin Elmer System comprising of a AOC-20i Autosampler interfaced with a Mass Spectrometer. The result shows different peaks indicating the presence of thirty and thirty-eight phytochemical compounds in the leaves and seeds respectively. Some of the compounds found in samples include butyrolactone, organic acids like dodecanoic acid, tetradecanoic acid, n-hexadecanoic acid, oleic acid, and octadecanoic acid, alcohol, hydrocarbons (mainly terpenes) such as Beta-myrcene, elemene, caryophylene, dillapiol, linolool and copaene, other compounds include Cyclohexane, 1-ethenyl-1-methyl-2, 4-bis(1-methylethenyl), Pyridine, 3-(5-phenyl-4H-1,2,4-triazol-3-yl-,. These compounds are known for their, strong aroma, flavours, and spiciness. These phytochemicals have documented aphrodisiac, anti-fungal, anti-inflammatory, antibiotic, and skin conditioning properties. The present finding suggests that this plant have a promising potential phytopharmaceutical and nutritive value.