The LC-MS and GC-MS analyses identified 29 major metabolites that had not been previously documented in the leaves of
A. chinense. Our research findings highlight the metabolic complexity and phytochemical diversity of
A. chinense, showcasing its potential pharmaceutical applications. The LC-MS and GC-MS chromatograms (Methanolic and Chloroform extracts) are shown in Fig 1 and 2, respectively. The compounds identified via LC-MS and GC-MS (Methanolic and chloroform extracts) were presented in Table 1 and 2, respectively, along with their chemical formula, retention time, major ion, score and bioactive properties. Compound identification was based on spectral matching scores and accurate mass comparison; however, these annotations remain putative and require structural confirmation using authentic standards or NMR analysis. The LC-MS and GC-MS analyses revealed the presence of several pharmacologically significant bioactive metabolites, which lay a foundation for further exploration of
A. chinense in drug discovery and its potential as a promising source of novel bioactive compounds.
While several detected compounds have been shown to exhibit bioactivity in previous studies, their effects in
A. chinense extracts remain speculative and require experimental validation. Some of the major bioactive compounds detected using LC-MS include sinapic acid which is known for strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties (
Nićiforović and Abramovič, 2014;
Yun et al., 2008), Leonurine has been shown to have both cardioprotective and neuroprotective effects
(Liu et al., 2009; Qi et al., 2010), 11-amino-undecanoic acid for its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties
(Ikeda et al., 2008), leonuriside A for its antioxidant properties
(Sugaya et al., 1998), corchoionol C 9-glucoside, an antihyperglycemic and antioxidant
(Lestari et al., 2024) and icaceine which exhibits anticonvulsant properties (
Dixit and Reddy, 2017). Along with these major compounds, pyridinoline is also known to be a collagen cross-linker, suggesting possible dermatological and osteological uses (
Tapia-Vázquez et al., 2025).
Moreover, the results support the phyto-therapeutic potential and functional properties as well as their traditional medicinal applications. The GC-MS analysis revealed the presence of various chemical compounds, which show anti-inflammatory, antibacterial and antifungal properties. Interestingly, tetracosane and nonacosane showed apoptotic effects in cell lines and possess anti-mutagenic properties, suggesting potential anticancer properties, which could be used in cancer prevention and related therapeutic applications
(Uddin et al., 2012; Kalsum et al., 2016). Besides these compounds, phenol, 2,4-bis (1,1-dimethylethyl)-, phosphite (3:1) and 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z,Z), also known as linoleic acid, detected during this study exhibited antioxidant, antiviral, anticancer, antifungal, anti-enterococcal, anti-inflammatory, anticancer and antihistaminic activities (
Patil and Singh, 2022;
Hnbgu et al., 2021; Yan et al., 2024). Medicanine (Table 1) was tentatively annotated based on LC-MS spectral matching and is reported here as a putatively identified compound.
The chemical diversity of
A. chinense shows its pharmacological potential, which may likely be developed due to environmental and microbial interactions in the biodiversity hotspot of Manipur. This aligns with earlier studies regarding the rich diversity of medicinal plants and ethno-pharmacology in this region (
Mao and Roy, 2016).
A. chinense warrants further investigation through in vivo studies, bioactivity-guided fractionation and mechanism of action studies. More studies on
A. chinense chemical profile are needed, including cytotoxicity and other pharmacological verifications to confirm the efficacy, safety and validation of the plant-based compounds. Nevertheless, this research provides the foundation for future strategies in bioprospecting, integrative medicine and underlines the significance of respecting traditional knowledge systems and biological diversity. The observed metabolite diversity may reflect adaptive biochemical responses to environmental stressors, microbial interactions and ecological pressures characteristic of the Manipur biodiversity hotspot.