Phytochemical profiling and functional potential of Trapa natans (Heikak Yetli): A GC–MS evaluation of bioactive phenolics

Introduction

Medicinal plants still continue to play a significant role in traditional health-care systems as well as served as a major modern drug discovery platform. Trapa natans L. belonging to Lythraceae family (Fig. 1) is one such aquatic edible plant, which is consumed as food and used as an indigenous medicine for the treatment of diverse ailments in many parts of the globe (Banu et al., 2023; Kanase et al., 2024) [2,6] . Given its extensive usage as food and medicine, there is a need to understand the phytochemical composition of this plant deeply, which could be useful in nutraceutical as well as pharmaceutical applications. Existing phytochemical studies on leaves of T. natans have revealed the presence of alkaloids, tannins, phenolic compounds, flavonoids, steroids, saponins, carbohydrates and glycosides (Chandana et al., 2021; Mendhekar & Rachh, 2023) [3,10] . The fruits and alternative plant parts have shown to contain considerable amounts of gallic acid, caffeic acid, chlorogenic acid, ferulic acid, ellagic acid, quercetin, naringenin and other related polyphenolic constituents (Banu et al., 2023; Kanase et al., 2024) [2,6] . These polyphenolic constituents are known to possess antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and other biological activities (Asha et al., 2024; Huang et al., 2015) [1,5] . In addition to polyphenols, T. natans has also been reported to be a rich source of carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, vitamins and minerals (Banu et al., 2023; Kanase et al., 2024) [2,6] . The presence of minerals such as calcium, magnesium and potassium further adds to its nutritional value while its phytochemical constituents make it a potential candidate for functional food development (Kanase et al., 2024; Rehman et al., 2024) [6,11] . Recent studies have also shown that the phytochemical composition of different varieties of this plant as well as the extracts prepared from different plant parts vary significantly with respect to polyphenolic and flavonoid contents, which is directly linked to their antioxidant activity (Asha et al., 2024; Kiruba et al., 2023) [1,7] . Therefore, it is important to conduct a phytochemical profiling study to identify the bioactive constituents of this plant using appropriate analytical methodologies.

Methods

Plant Material Collection and Preparation

Fresh samples of T. natans were collected from wetlands area of Manipur during early September 2025 to late February 2026. The collected samples were shade dried and ground to obtain a coarse powder for extraction (Kiruba et al., 2023) [7] . The powder was then subjected to petroleum ether extraction at Manipur International University laboratory. Petroleum ether was used as a solvent since it is capable of dissolving a wide range of organic compounds.

GC-MS Analysis

The extracts obtained from T. natans were analyzed using GC-MS (PerkinElmer Clarus680 GC/600C MS) to identify phytochemical constituents present in the sample. Peaks were identified by comparing the obtained data with NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Mass Spectral Library followed by summarization of results in terms of retention time, peak area, area percentage, molecular weight and molecular formula (Mendhekar & Rachh, 2023) [10] . Since some of the peaks might have been formed due to derivatisation process, the results were interpreted alongside phytochemical screening results (Mendhekar & Rachh, 2023) [10] .

Results

GC-MS Profile

GC-MS analysis of the extract obtained from T. natans revealed prominent 9 peaks (Table no 1 The majority of the area (97.5%) belongs to other peaks that were not identified or were considered as solvent front, silylation reagent or matrix background. The identified peaks were mainly siloxane and phenolic derivatives. Overall, the GC-MS analysis showed that the extract of T. natans contained a number of phytochemical constituents, which may contribute to the reported biological activity of this plant.

Discussion

The phytochemical constituents identified in the extract of T. natans using GC-MS analysis were mainly phenolic and siloxane derivatives. The presence of phenolic derivatives such as 4-Methyl-2,4-bis(p-hydroxyphenyl)pent-1-ene and 4-Tert-octylphenol suggests that despite being a non-polar solvent, petroleum ether was able to dissolve some of the polar phytochemical constituents of this plant. Although previous studies have shown that highly hydrophilic polyphenolic compounds tend to be found in the polar extracts (Kiruba et al., 2023) [7] , our findings demonstrate that the non-polar fraction of T. natans also contains certain bioactive phytochemical constituents, which can be easily derivatized and identified using gas chromatography. [7,9] . In addition to phenolic derivatives, the phytochemical constituents identified in the current study also include siloxane derivatives such as Tetrasiloxane, decamethyl-, Cyclotrisiloxane, hexamethyl-and Octasiloxane, hexadecamethyl-. However, it is important to note that some of these peaks might have been formed due to derivatisation process or might be contaminants originating from GC column or other sources (Mendhekar & Rachh, 2023) [10] . Unfortunately, such an issue is not uncommon in phytochemical analysis since siloxane dimers and trimers (e.g., hexamethylcyclotrisiloxane) as well as silylated alkylphenols (e.g., TMS-4-tert-octylphenol) are often reported in the literature as plant metabolites with diverse biological activity ranging from anti-cancer to antimicrobial properties (Zhang et al., 2018) [12] . Therefore, while interpreting the results of the current study, it is important to bear in mind that some of the identified International Journal of Agriculture and Food Science https://www.agriculturaljournals.com phytochemical constituents might not be endogenous to the plant under investigation. The observed phytochemical profile also suggests that the majority of the identified constituents were semi-volatile since they were eluted within a relatively narrow range of retention times (35.725-38.801 min). This could indicate that the extract of T. natans contained a number of derivatised compounds, which are more volatile than native phytochemical constituents. Indeed, derivatisation is often used in GC-MS analysis to improve the volatility of various compounds, including phenolic derivatives (Mendhekar & Rachh, 2023) [10] . As a result, the observed GC-MS profile might also reflect the presence of various phytochemical constituents, which have been derivatisized during sample preparation.

Overall, the results of the current study are consistent with previous reports on phytochemical and pharmacological properties of T. natans. Indeed, several studies have shown that this plant contains phenolic compounds, flavonoids, tannins and other bioactive constituents, which contribute to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial and other properties (Banu et al., 2023; Asha et al., 2024) [2,1] . In addition, the methanolic extracts of this plant have been shown to possess higher antioxidant and antimicrobial activities compared to non-polar extracts, suggesting that the majority of bioactive constituents are likely to be found in the polar fraction (Kiruba et al., 2023) [7] . The results of anti-inflammatory and wound healing studies also support the reported pharmacological properties of this plant (Firoz et al., 2025; Majee et al., 2023; Huang et al., 2015) [4,8,5] .

Conclusion

T. natans is an economically and nutritionally important aquatic plant, which possesses diverse phytochemical profile and significant biological activity. The current study identified several phytochemical constituents of this plant using GC-MS analysis, which revealed presence of phenolic and siloxane derivatives. The results obtained in this study, alongside previous phytochemical screening and pharmacological investigations, highlight the potential of this plant as a source of bioactive compounds with nutraceutical and pharmaceutical applications.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementWe thank Guwahati Biotech Park Technology Incubation Centre, Kamrup, Guwahati for providing us their lab facility.

References

1. Asha SY, Siddika A, Das PK, Ismail M, Islam F, Rakib MA. Phytochemical profiling and antioxidant activity of different varieties of Trapa natans: a comparative analysis. Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2024;13(5):232-237. doi:10.22271/phyto.2024.v13.i5c.15076.
2. Banu ZW, Dasgupta D, Hazarika I, Laloo D, Kalita JM. Trapa natans L.: a journey from traditional to contemporary therapies-a review. The Natural Products Journal. 2023;13(8):122-134. doi:10.2174/2210315513666230330182909.
3. Chandana M, Mazumder R, Choudhary AN. Pharmacognostical investigation of Trapa natans L. leaves. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2021;14(9):4680-4684. doi:10.52711/0974-360X.2021.00813.
4. Firoz Z, Chourasia A, Saiju P, Prakash NJ. Evaluation of wound healing potential of fruit peel extract of Trapa natans in excision wound model. The Review of Diabetic Studies. 2025:1034-1042. doi:10.70082/2wT 1 bj29.
5. Huang HC, Liaw CC, Hwang SY, Kuo YH. Antiinflammatory and antioxidative constituents from Trapa natans. Planta Medica. 2015;81(16):PW95. doi:10.1055/s-0035-1565719.
6. Kanase V, Gupta A, Patil K, Bandarkar A, Khan M. Water chestnut (Trapa natans L.): nutritional, phytochemical and pharmacological aspects (an overview). Journal of Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry. 2024;13(3):46-50. doi:10.22271/phyto.2024.v13.i3a.14946.
7. Kiruba RM, Christobel GJJ, Mini JJ, Sankaralingam S, Venkatesh S, Sundari A, et al. Phytochemical analysis, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity of aquatic plant Trapa natans L.-medicinal aquatic plant. Asian Journal of Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology. 2023;13(3):1-14. doi:10.9734/ajbgmb/2023/v13i3293.
8. Majee C, Mazumder R, Choudhary AN. Assessment of in vivo wound healing potentiality of Trapa natans L. leaves on different wound models in rat. Indian Journal of Traditional Knowledge. 2023;22(4):739-745. doi:10.56042/ijtk.v22i4.7197.
9. Malviya N, Jain S, Jain A, Jain S, Gurjar R. Evaluation of in vitro antioxidant potential of aqueous extract of Trapa natans L. fruits. Acta Poloniae Pharmaceutica. 2010;67(4):391-396.
10. Mendhekar SY, Rachh PR. Pharmacognostic, physicochemical and preliminary phytochemical investigation of Trapa natans Linn. root. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2023;16(11). doi:10.52711/0974-360X.2023.00882.
11. Rehman AU, Khan AU, Sohaib M, Rehman H. Comparative analysis of nutritional properties, phytochemical profile, and antioxidant activities between red and green water chestnut (Trapa natans) fruits. Foods. 2024;13(12):1883. doi:10.3390/foods13121883.
12. Zhang H, Hua Y, Chen J, Li X, Bai X, Wang H. Organism-derived phthalate derivatives as bioactive natural products. Journal of Environmental Science and Health, Part C. 2018;36(3):125-144. doi:10.1080/10590501.2018.1490512.