COMPARISON OF GC-MS ANALYSIS OF PHYTOCHEMICALS IN THE ETHANOLIC EXTRACTS OF MARCHANTIA LINEARIS LEHM & LINDENB. AND MARCHANTIA POLYMORPHA L. (BRYOPHYTA)

Bryophytes have unique aroma, taste and possess bioactive potential compounds with medicinal properties. Chemical studies of the bryophytes were limited in India due to the small size and expertise in identification of the species. Many of the bryophytes are used as folklore medicine by local tribes.  The solvent extracts results poor yield leads to insufficient for testing biological activity. In vitro culture and suitable chemical synthesis was an alternative undertaken to overcome this issue. In the present study, the bioactive phytochemicals of Marchantia linearis and M. polymorphahave been analyzed using GC-MS. The phytochemical composition of the whole thallus ethanol extract was investigated using Perkin-Elmer Gas Chromatography – Mass Spectroscopy. GC-MS analysis of M. linearisand M. polymorphaethanol extracts revealed the presence of the GC-MS chromatogram of the many peaks .The major compounds inM. linearis and M. polymorpha are n-hexadecanoic acid (28.13% and 18.72% respectively) followed by 1,2 benzene dicarboxylic acid (17.63% and 8.93% respectively). The medicinal potentiality of the liverworts may be due to the bioactive compounds present in the ethanolic extracts. Further studies are warranted to isolate and purify the lead molecules to evaluate its biological potentialities.