Identification and Comparison of Functional Groups in Medicinal plants using Attenuated Total Reflectance–Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) Spectroscopy
Main Article Content
Abstract
The biochemical profiles of a few chosen medicinal plant leaves in both fresh and shade-dried forms were examined and compared using attenuated total reflectance–Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. Major functional groups were to be identified, spectral variations across treatment conditions were assessed, and the impact of drying on spectral clarity was to be ascertained. Samples were scanned in the mid-infrared range (4000–400 cm⁻¹), and spectra were generated using baseline correction, normalization, and averaging among repeats. Prominent bands of absorption that correspond to O–H stretching (~3300 cm⁻¹), C–H stretching of aliphatic groups (2920–2850 cm⁻¹), C=O and C=C vibrations of phenolic and flavonoid compounds (~1700–1600 cm⁻¹), and carbohydrate-related C–O–C and C–O stretching (1100–1000 cm⁻¹) have been consistently identified across species. Fresh samples displayed wide and powerful O–H bands due to greater moisture content, which concealed underlying biomolecular characteristics. Shade-drying considerably decreased water- associated absorptions, increasing the resolution of protein (amide I and amide II), lipid, and polysaccharide bands. Interspecific differences in band intensities were found through comparative analysis, suggesting variations in the composition of phytochemicals like phenolics, alkaloids, terpenoids, and glycosides. ATR-FTIR is a quick, non-destructive analytical method that can produce repeatable biochemical fingerprints for therapeutic plants. Shade-dried leaves were shown to provide sharper spectral fingerprints than fresh material, indicating their applicability for spectroscopic authentication and phytochemical screening. These findings provide baseline FTIR spectrum assignments for the investigated species and show the potential of vibrational spectroscopy for quality control.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
References
Ayvaz, H., & Temizkan, R. (2018). Quick vacuum drying of liquid samples prior to ATR-FTIR spectral collection improves the quantitative prediction: a case study of milk adulteration. International Journal of Food Science and Technology, 53(11), 2482–2489. https://doi.org/10.1111/ijfs.13839
Aziza, A. E., Quezada, N., & Cherian, G. (2010). Feeding Camelina sativa meal to meat-type chickens: Effect on production performance and tissue fatty acid composition. Journal of Applied Poultry Research, 19(2), 157–168. https://doi.org/10.3382/japr.2009-00100
Blonk, B., & Cock, I. E. (2019). Interactive antimicrobial and toxicity profiles of Pittosporum angustifolium Lodd. extracts with conventional antimicrobials. Journal of Integrative Medicine, 17(4), 261–272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joim.2019.03.006
Cai, Y., Luo, Q., Sun, M., & Corke, H. (2004). Antioxidant activity and phenolic compounds of 112 traditional Chinese medicinal plants associated with anticancer. Life Sciences,74(17), 2157–2184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2003.09.047
Canteri, M. H. G., Renard, C. M. G. C., Le Bourvellec, C., & Bureau, S. (2019). ATR-FTIR spectroscopy to determine cell wall composition: Application on a large diversity of fruits and vegetables. Carbohydrate Polymers, 212, 186–196. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbpol.2019.02.021
Dal Bosco, A., Mattioli, S., Matics, Z., Szendrő, Z., Gerencsér, Z., Mancinelli, A. C., Kovács, M., Cullere, M., Castellini, C., & Dalle Zotte, A. (2019). The antioxidant effectiveness of liquorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra L.) extract administered as dietary supplementation and/or as a burger additive in rabbit meat. Meat Science, 158. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.meatsci.2019.107921
Das, S., Bhati, V., Dewangan, B. P., Gangal, A., Mishra, G. P., Dikshit, H. K., & Pawar, P. A. M. (2024). Combining Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and multivariate analysis for chemotyping of cell wall composition in Mungbean (Vigna radiata (L.) Wizcek).
Plant Methods, 20(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13007-024-01260-w
Fu, Y., Luo, J., Qin, J., & Yang, M. (2019). Screening techniques for the identification of bioactive compounds in natural products. Journal of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Analysis, 168, 189-200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpba.2019.02.027
Ji, Y., Yang, X., Ji, Z., Zhu, L., Ma, N., Chen, D., Jia, X., Tang, J., & Cao, Y. (2020). DFT- Calculated IR Spectrum Amide I, II, and III Band Contributions of N-Methylacetamide Fine Components. ACS Omega, 5(15), 8572–8578. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.9b04421
Kancherla, M., Mary Shamya, A., Wasim Akram, S. A., John Christopher, J., Zuha Umme Kulsum, S., Athar Parvez, A., Begum, T., Kabiruddin Ahmed, K., Ahmed, N. Z., Meena, R., & Kumar, P. (2025). Phytochemical fingerprinting of ethanolic extract of Iṭrīfal Ṣaghīr – An unani formulation: standardization, HPTLC and GC–MS based analysis. Results in Chemistry, 18. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rechem.2025.102824
Kumar, J. K., & Prasad, A. D. (2011). Identification and comparison of biomolecules in medicinal plants of Tephrosia tinctoria and Atylosia albicans by using FTIR. Romanian Journal of Biophysics, 21(1), 63-71.
Lee, S. E., Hwang, H. J., Ha, J. S., Jeong, H. S., & Kim, J. H. (2003). Screening of medicinal plant extracts for antioxidant activity. Life Sciences, 73(2), 167–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0024-3205(03)00259-5
Lowe, H., Steele, B., Bryant, J., Fouad, E., Toyang, N., & Ngwa, W. (2021). Antiviral activity of Jamaican medicinal plants and isolated bioactive compounds. Molecules, 26(3), 607. https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules26030607
Maaloul, S., Mahmoudi, M., Mighri, H., Ghzaiel, I., Bouhamda, T., Boughalleb, F., El Midaoui, A., Vejux, A., Lizard, G., & Abdellaoui, R. (2024). Tunisian Silybum Species: Important Sources of Polyphenols, Organic Acids, Minerals, and Proteins across Various Plant Organs. Plants, 13(7). https://doi.org/10.3390/plants13070989
Mandrone, M., Bonvicini, F., Lianza, M., Sanna, C., Maxia, A., Gentilomi, G. A., & Poli, F. (2019). Sardinian plants with antimicrobial potential. Biological screening with multivariate data treatment of thirty-six extracts. Industrial Crops and Products, 137, 557–565. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2019.05.069
Moussaoui, F., & Alaoui, T. (2016). Evaluation of antibacterial activity and synergistic effect between antibiotic and the essential oils of some medicinal plants. Asian pacific journal of tropical biomedicine, 6(1), 32-37. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apjtb.2015.09.024
Nandiyanto, A. B. D., Oktiani, R., & Ragadhita, R. (2019). How to read and interpret ftir spectroscope of organic material. Indonesian Journal of Science and Technology, 4(1), 97–118. https://doi.org/10.17509/ijost.v4i1.15806
Nikalje, G. C., Kumar, J., Nikam, T. D., & Suprasanna, P. (2019). FT-IR profiling reveals differential response of roots and leaves to salt stress in a halophyte Sesuvium portulacastrum (L.) L. Biotechnology Reports, 23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.btre.2019.e00352
Pan, G., Du, Z., Zhang, C., Li, C., Yang, X., & Li, H. (2007). Effect of structure of bridging group on curing and properties of bisphenol-a based novolac epoxy resins. Polymer Journal, 39(5), 478–487. https://doi.org/10.1295/polymj.PJ2006201
Shahidi, F., & Ambigaipalan, P. (2015). Phenolics and polyphenolics in foods, beverages and spices: Antioxidant activity and health effects–A review. Journal of functional foods, 18, 820-897. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2015.06.018
Subash, S., Braidy, N., Essa, M. M., Zayana, A. B., Ragini, V., Al-Adawi, S., Al-Asmi, A., & Guillemin, G. J. (2015). Long-term (15mo) dietary supplementation with pomegranates from Oman attenuates cognitive and behavioral deficits in a transgenic mice model of Alzheimer’s disease. Nutrition, 31(1), 223–229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nut.2014.06.004
Süntar, I. (2020). Importance of ethnopharmacological studies in drug discovery: role of medicinal plants. Phytochemistry Reviews, 19(5), 1199-1209. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11101-019-09629-9
Sytar, O., Hemmerich, I., Zivcak, M., Rauh, C., & Brestic, M. (2018). Comparative analysis of bioactive phenolic compounds composition from 26 medicinal plants. Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, 25(4), 631–641. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2016.01.036
Tran, N., Pham, B., & Le, L. (2020). Bioactive compounds in anti-diabetic plants: From herbal medicine to modern drug discovery. Biology, 9(9), 252. https://doi.org/10.3390/biology9090252
Umar, A. H., Syahruni, R., Ranteta’dung, I., & Rafi, M. (2023). FTIR-based fingerprinting combined with chemometrics method for rapid discrimination of Jatropha spp. (Euphorbiaceae) from different regions in South Sulawesi. Journal of Applied Pharmaceutical Science, 13(1), 139–149. https://doi.org/10.7324/JAPS.2023.130113
Walters, N. A., de Beer, D., de Villiers, A., Walczak, B., & Joubert, E. (2019). Genotypic variation in phenolic composition of Cyclopia pubescens (honeybush tea) seedling plants. Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, 78, 129–137. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2019.02.006
Wilson, R. H., Smith, A. C., Kacuráková, M., Saunders, P. K., Wellner, N., & Waldron, K. W. (2000). The mechanical properties and molecular dynamics of plant cell wall polysaccharides studied by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. Plant Physiology, 124(1), 397-406.
Xiong, Y., & Long, C. (2020). An ethnoveterinary study on medicinal plants used by the Buyi people in Southwest Guizhou, China. Journal of ethnobiology and ethnomedicine, 16(1), 46. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13002-020-00396-y
Zengin, G., Ceylan, R., Katanić, J., Aktumsek, A., Matić, S., Boroja, T., ... & Mahomoodally, M. F. (2018). Exploring the therapeutic potential and phenolic composition of two Turkish ethnomedicinal plants–Ajuga orientalis L. and Arnebia densiflora (Nordm.) Ledeb. Industrial Crops and Products, 116, 240-248. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indcrop.2018.02.054