Objective: Jatropha curcas (Euphorbiaceae) is native of Latin America origin and widely distributed throughout tropical and sub tropical regions. The present work was carried out to identify the chemical composition in the presence of various concentration of salicyclic acid by GC-MS analysis.
Methods: In vitro callus was treated with 200, 300, 400, 500 μM of salicyclic acid in Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium under in vitro condition. Ethyl acetate extract of control and treated callus was analysed for their chemical constituents using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectroscopy (GC-MS).
Results: The major constituents obtained from control and salicylic acid treatments are 1-docosene, 1-octadecene, 1-hexadecene, (E)-3-eicosene, (E)-5-eicosene, 1-hexacene, nonahexacontaoic acid and methyl ester-3-oxocyclohexane carboxylic acid. Salicylic acid treatment altered the chemical content and increased percentage of compounds in all treatments, and also resulted in the production of higher percentage of alkanes and fatty acid.
Conclusion: This study highlights production of secondary metabolites using salicylic acid elicitation. Hence, production of higher level of alkanes and fatty acids may be utilized for pharmaceutical uses.