Phytochemical Screening and Phenolic Profile of Leaves and Fruits of Lotus edulis L. Plant Collected from Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar, Libya
TL;DR
Both leaves and stems showed strong reactions for flavonoids and tannins, whereas alkaloids, anthraquinones, and cardiac glycosides were not detected, and saponins were strongly detected in alcoholic extracts but not in aqueous extracts.
Abstract
Lotus edulis L. is an annual Mediterranean plant whose phytochemical composition remains insufficiently characterized in North Africa. This study compared the major phytochemical classes and the reported phenolic profiles of leaves and fruits collected from the Al-Jabal Al-Akhdar region of eastern Libya. Dried plant materials were extracted with distilled water and alcohol, and the extracts were screened qualitatively for saponins, tannins, carbohydrates and/or glycosides, alkaloids, flavonoids, anthraquinones, sterols, triterpenoids, and cardiac glycosides using conventional reagent-based tests. The individual phenolic compounds were generated by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Both leaves and stems showed strong reactions for flavonoids and tannins, whereas alkaloids, anthraquinones, and cardiac glycosides were not detected. Saponins were strongly detected in alcoholic extracts but not in aqueous extracts. Sterols were detected only in the aqueous leaf extract, while triterpenoids occurred in both fruit extracts and in the alcoholic leaf extract. Eleven phenolic or substituted phenolic analytes were reported. The sum of the reported values was 23.570 ppm for leaves and 8.130 ppm for fruits, indicating an approximately 2.90-fold greater analytical response in leaves. Leaf values were dominated by 2-chlorophenol (9.079 ppm), 4-nitrophenol (6.015), and 2,4-dinitrophenol (3.036 ppm), whereas fruit values were highest for 4-nitrophenol (3.065 ppm), 2-methyl-4,6-dinitrophenol (1.724ppm), and 2,4-dinitrophenol (1.383 ppm).