Thunbergia is a plant genus with many medicinal properties, such as anti-inflammatory, hepatoprotective, antipyretic, and detoxicant. It was traditionally known to be used as a medicine by rural and tribal people of Asia and Africa. The present study used Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy for characterisation and comparative study of bioactive compounds and functional groups’ presence in the different parts of the Thunbergia plant. Three parts of the plant, i.e. leaf, stem and flower, were studied in three different species, i.e., T. alata, T. erecta and T. mysorensis.
FTIR spectroscopy checks the presence of various functional groups in the sample under study, such as carboxylic acid, alkane, aldehyde, alkynes, aliphatic amines, etc. Our findings exhibit that different parts of Thunbergia have different medicinally important bioactive constituents with different functional groups. It justifies its use as a traditional medicine and promises its application in modern medicine.
In the study, the major functional groups reported in the leaf extract were hydroxyl groups, lipids, alkanes, secondary amines, fatty acids, benzenoid compounds and phenols. This research shows that Thunbergia is a potential source of antioxidants and provides an opportunity for developing natural products from Thunbergia in drug discovery.