Identification of Pharmaceutically Important Constituents of Quinoa Root

The present investigation was carried out to explore the bioactive compounds from the n-hexane fraction of methanolic extract of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.) roots. For this purpose, C. quinoa roots were collected, shade dried, and crushed into a fine powder. The powdered material was extracted in methanol, filtered, and the filtrate was partitioned with n-hexane, followed by GC-MS analysis of the n-hexane fraction. The quantitative determination of this fraction revealed the presence of 15 phytochemical constituents of diverse nature. Among these, octadec-9-enoic acid (44.18%); n-hexadecanoic acid (18.87%); methyl (Z)-octadec-9-enoate (12.87%); methyl hexadecanoate (4.30%); 2,3-dihydroxypropyl elaidate (3.63%); phthalic acid (3.08%); methyl octadecanoate (2.27%) and 1,12-tridecadiene (2.00%) were prevailing as the most abundant to moderately occurring compounds. A thorough literature survey was carried out to collect information regarding the pharmaceutical properties of the identified compounds. It showed some of the identified compounds namely dodecanoic acid; tetradecanoic acid; 2-benzoyl-d-galactosan; n-hexadecanoic acid; methyl octadecanoate; octadec-9-enoic acid; and 2,3-dihydroxypropyl elaidate possess antifungal, antibacterial, antioxidant, antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and/or anti-cancer properties.