Analysis of Bioactive Phytochemicals in Aloe perryi Aqueous Leaf Gel Extract Using FT-IR, GC-MS and HPLC Techniques

This study characterizes the phytochemical composition of the aqueous gel extract from Aloe perryi Baker, amedicinal species endemic to Socotra Island, Yemen. The primary objective was to investigate and characterize the functional groups and chemical composition of Aloe perryi aqueous extract as compared with quercetin (standard of flavonoids), gallic acid (standard of phenols), aloin (standard of anthraquinones), and ascorbic acid (standard of antioxidants). Aloe leaves gel was blended, extracted with distilled water using a shaker, filtered, and lyophilized. Then the yield of extract (10%) was subjected to FTIR, GC-MS, and HPLC analysis. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of phenol & alcohols (OH), alkane (C-H), unsaturated ketone (C=C), carbonyl (C=O), Ether (C-O-C), amine (NH), methyl (CH3) functional groups in the Aloe aqueous extract. GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of alcohols, many alkanes, aldehydes, ketones, aliphatic and aromatic esters, and fatty acids in the Aloe aqueous extract. HPLC emphasized the presence of functional groups by the presence of quercetin (3.59%), gallic acid (5.39%), aloin A (19.27%), and aloin B ( 29.64%) in Aloe extract, but ascorbic acid was not separated during this method. The three approaches (FTIR, GC-MS, HPLC) were complementary to one another in identification and the simple quantification of compounds in Aloe extract.