Calotropis gigantea Linn belongs to Apocynaceae, a large erect lactiferous shrub. Native to continental Asia and south East Asia and has been introduced in the pacific islands, Australia, Central and northern south America, south Africa, India, Srilanka, China, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia. Tribal communities used this plant to treat bronchial asthma, cholera, convulsions, pneumonia, toothache, ringworm and small pox infections, fever, rheumatism, leprosy, constipation, wounds. The phytochemical reported the presence of cardenolides, triterpenoids, anthocyanins and hydrocarbons in it. The plant is reported for antimicrobial, antioxidant, antiasthmatic, anticonvulsant and it also contains hepatoprotective, hypoglycemic, procoagulant, abortifacient, cytotoxic, insecticidal and ovicidal effects. The collected leaves were washed with water; shade dried, powdered and extracted with hydroalcohol. The extract was concentrated and stored in air tight container for further use. The aim of this study was to characterize the phytoconstituents in hydroalcoholic C.gigantea leaves extract using Gas chromatography-Mass spectrometry (GC-MS). GC-MS chromatogram showed the presence of twenty phytoconstituents which may attribute to pharmacological properties.
Krishnaveni et al. (Mon,) studied this question.