Mass Spectrometric, Thermodynamic Studies Using MNDO Method and Evaluation of the Antibacterial and Antifungal Activities of Bougainvillea spectabilis Extracts
Mamoun S. M. Abd El-Kareem *
Atomic and Molecular Physics Unit, Experimental Nuclear Physics Department, Nuclear Research Centre, Egyptian Atomic Energy Authority, Inshas, Cairo 13759, Egypt.
Mohamed Z. M. Salem *
Forestry and Wood Technology Department, Faculty of Agriculture (El-Shatby), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21545, Egypt.
Said I. Behiry
Agricultural Botany Department, Faculty of Agriculture (Saba Basha), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21531, Egypt.
Nader A. Ashmawy
Plant Pathology Department, Faculty of Agriculture (El-Shatby), Alexandria University, Alexandria 21545, Egypt.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Bougainvillea spectabilis Willd. (Family Nyctaginaceae) possesses several bioactive chemical components. Consequently, wood and bark portions were extracted using several solvents in the current investigation. In particular, the bark samples were extracted using methanol, acetone, and n-butanol; the essential oils (EO) from the wood samples were extracted using the hydro distillation process. The chemical compounds in each extract were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), with possible mass spectrometric investigations for the main compounds. The extracts were evaluated for their bioactivities against some plant pathogenic bacterial strains. The main ingredients in the two samples under investigation were split into two groups for this study. Group I consisted of compounds with long-chain hydrocarbons that had an oxygen atom in a single or double bond in their structures, such as methyl ester, nonanal, 2-decenal, and 2-undecenal. The second group (II) of cyclic compounds, which include 1,3,5-cycloheptatriene and cis-1,3-dimethylcyclohexane, have 6 or 7 bonds in its structure. Based on the semi-empirical calculation of MNDO thermodynamic data, the most stable molecules are those with negative values.
Keywords: Bougainvillea spectabilis, MNDO method, bark extract, essential oil, plant pathogens