Phytochemical investigation of seeds of Trachyspermum ammi Linn. by GC-MS

Abstract

The present study embraces phytochemical investigation of the essential oil extracted from the mature seeds of Trachyspermum ammi Linn for different constituents by subjecting the oil to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis. The identification of the constituents is based upon retention indices and by comparison of their mass spectral fragmentation patterns against the commercial library mass spectra (Wiley, Nist etc.). Ellagic acid (EA), which is a natural phenol antioxidant, has been isolated from methanol extract from the mature seeds of Trachyspermum ammi Linn. Also, Thymol (Thl), a naturally occurring phenolic compound, has been crystallized by the reported standard procedure from oil extracted from these mature seeds. Both these compounds have been evaluated for their possible anti-cancer effect against a selected panel of human cancer cell lines by means of sulforhodamine B assay.