Comparative Study of Compressive Strength of Timber Blocks Under Various Slenderness Ratio-A Viable Case

Abstract

In the current study, Psychotria dalzellii Hook.f. stem-bark samples were procured from Joida, Western Ghats, Karnataka, India. The collected stem bark samples were air-dried and subjected to soxhlet extraction using petroleum ether, acetone and ethanol as a solvents. The obtained extracts were screened for preliminary phytochemicals which resulted in the existence of flavonoids, alkaloids, glycosides, phenols, tannins, steroids, triterpenoids, saponins, carbohydrates and lignins. Subsequently, the ethanolic stem bark extract of P. dalzelllii was subjected to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis for quantitatively estimate the phytoconstituents. It reveals the presence of 20 bioactive chemicals. Among them, 2-furancarboxaldehyde, 5-(hydroxymethyl)- (59.26%); p-mesyloxyphenol (10.68%); 2-furaldehyde diethyl acetal (4.54%) and 4H-pyran-4-one, 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl (4.11%) were noted to be the principal compounds detected. Furthermore, in-vitro cytotoxic activities on MCF-7 and L929 cell lines were determined by MTT assay. The extract exhibited considerable cytotoxic activity towards MCF-7 cell lines at higher concentration with an IC50 value of 440.82 μg/mL and it showed very less toxicity towards L929 normal cell lines. This indicates its potential as a possible source of bioactive constituents for medicinal and pharmaceutical exploration.