Isolation and Partial Characterization of the Most Bioactive Metabolite from The Hexane Extract of the Aerial Part of Hydrocotyle Verticillata (WHORLED MARSHPENNYWORTH)

Abstract

Several of thousands of bioactive compounds have been mined from the natural product resources both from the marine and terrestrial environment all over the world. Natural product has proved potentiality of many plants for diverse clinical conditions. Many plants were found to contain compounds, the bioactive components which are used in natural medicine. In this study, the plant of interest is Hydrocotyle verticillata, mistakenly identified to be "Gotu ko la" (Centella asiatica) by local folks of Iligan City and Butuan City, Philippines. The natural components of the aerial part of H. verticillata were extracted using solvent extraction. The crude ethanolic extract of the aerial part of Hydrocotyle verticillata was further subjected to solvent partitioning according to increasing polarity: n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), dichloromethane (DCM) and water. Bioassays like Brine Shrimp Lethality Test was then conducted to test which of the extracts consist of bioactive components. Among the four partitioned solvent extracts, result showed that n -hexane extract showed to be the most bioactive since it has the lowest LC50 .