Plants remain a vibrant source of diverse bioactive phytochemicals that are secondary metabolites protecting them from infections and predations. Magnolia champaca is reported to possess a multitude of phytochemicals. In the present study, the phytochemical constituents of the methanolic extract of Magnolia champaca leaves were analysed qualitatively and with gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (GC-MS/MS). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic analysis was performed to identify the chemical nature of the extract and to find structurally similar compounds. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, terpenes, glycosides, phenols, steroids, tannins and saponins. FTIR spectroscopic analysis revealed structurally related compounds. GC-MS/MS analysis revealed the presence of 99 diverse compounds with varied biological activities, among which 1,2,4-butanetriol, n-hexadecanoic acid, cis vaccenic acid, phytol, trans longipinocarveol and caryophyllene oxide were found predominantly. Thus, the identification and characterisation of the phytochemicals in the extract favour the development of novel therapeutic agents.

Plants have been in use in medicine from time immemorial. Sesamum indicum, an ancient seed crop, has been widely used mainly for its oil. It is regarded as highly beneficial for its nutritive value and therapeutic effect. It is known to have anti-allergic, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, analgesic and many other pharmacological activities. In this study, seeds of S. indicum were subjected to aqueous extraction followed by evaluation for the presence of phytochemical constituents. The aqueous extract of seeds of S. indicum after phytochemical testing, was found to contain alkaloids, phenols, steroids, flavonoids, diterpenes, glycosides and tannins. Following this, silver nanoparticles were biosynthesised from the extract, where the phytochemicals acted as reducing and capping agents for the nanoparticles formed. The synthesised nanoparticles were characterised by using UV-visible spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The synthesis of nanoparticles from plant extract is gaining importance now-a-days owing to the effectual activity elicited by them when compared to activity of plant compounds alone.