GC-MS Analysis For Determination of Bioactive Compounds of Phellinus Pectinatus: A Species of Wild Mushroom from Uttarakhand Himalaya, India

Abstract

Introduction: Nature has been the main storehouse of medicinal treasures for thousands of years. Based on their use in traditional medicine, important compounds are being isolated from these natural sources to make modern medicines. Wild mushrooms (macrofungi) may be an important source of drugs for modern medicine. Since mushrooms possess medicinal properties like antimicrobials, antifungals, antivirals, antioxidants, anti-HIV, antitumors, and anticancer, there has been an increasing demand for the isolation of their bioactive compounds. The present study is intended to identify bioactive compounds in the wild mushrooms Phellinus pectinatus. Phellinus pectinatus was collected from the Garhwal Himalayan region of Uttarakhand state. After collection, the sample was dried, ground to a fine powder, and then subjected to methanol extraction. The GC-MS method was used to identify the significant volatile components.   Identification is based on the peak area%, molecular weight, and, retention time. In the present study, a total of thirty-nine components were identified from methanolic extract of Phellinus pectinatus by GC-MS analysis. From all the identified components, 19 components are already having biological activity while 20 components were firstly reported in the present study, and their biological activities are not previously reported in scientific literature.  n-Hexadecanoic acid (11.19%), Dibutyl phthalate(10.57%),  hexadecanoic acid, methyl ester (9.31%) and Benzene, 1,3,5-tris(3-methyl-3-butenyl)- (8.01%)  are the main components present in methanolic extract of Phellinus pectinatus at, while some other useful components also present at moderate level i.e  Methyl 10-trans,12-cis-octadecadienoate (5.41%),9,12-Octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z)- (5.19%), and 4,5-Diphenylocta-1,7-diene (dl) (4.87%) .These findings suggested that the extract of Phellinus pectinatus,  could be a good source of bioactive compounds for medicinal purposes, as well as agricultural importance.  

Methods: The fruiting body of Phellinus pectinatus was collected from the Garhwal Himalayan region in Uttarakhand India. Identification and authentication were done at available field guide of macrofungi, monographs, review of relevant literature, and available web resources mycokey.com, www. Mushrooms (Kothiyal et al. 2022). The specimen was deposited in the Laboratory, Department of Microbiology, SGRRU Patel Nagar, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, India.

Results: The use of GC-MS is one of the most efficient techniques available for identifying volatile matter, long-chain, branched-chain hydrocarbons, organic acids, alcohols, phenol, ketone, and esters, among others. Among the most active wild mushroom species, methanol extract of Phellinus pectinatus was selected for GC-MS analysis.

Conclusions: In the present study, GC-MS was employed to identify various compounds in Phellinus pectinatus methanol extract that exhibits antiviral, anticancer, antimicrobial, antioxidant, hypocholesterolemic, pesticidal, insecticidal, nematicide, antiandrogenic, anti-inflammatory, anti-hypertension, antihistaminics, anticoagulants, ophthalmic drug activity, and anti-fungal activities. The presence of medically important compounds justifies the medicinal properties of this wild mushroom. Moreover, by isolating and characterizing the bioactive components found in this mushroom in the future, these compounds may be utilized to develop effective drugs against harmful strains of bacteria. Also, it can be used as a potential source to improve agricultural production.