Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are pharmaceutical compounds with anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antipyretic effects. Herein, a simple and rapid high-temperature liquid chromatography and superheated water chromatography method was developed and validated for the trace determination of NSAID residues of ketoprofen, naproxen, sodium diclofenac, and ibuprofen in water samples. The NSAIDs were separated in less than five minutes using buffered distilled water as the mobile phase and ODS Zirconia RP-C18 column as the stationary phase. Linearity was observed in the van’t Hoff plots of the tested drugs by employing a low acetonitrile percentage (20% ACN) in the mobile phase, without any significant changes in their retention mechanisms. However, nonlinear van’t Hoff plots were obtained for the superheated water chromatography data of the tested drugs because of significant changes in their retention factors, transition stage of the stationary phase, or the mobile phase properties. The limits of detection for ketoprofen, naproxen, sodium diclofenac, and ibuprofen were 14, 2, 4.2, and 32 µg L⁻¹, respectively, and their limits of quantification were 44, 8, 12, and 98 µg L⁻¹, respectively. The accuracy and precision parameters were determined for selected drugs, where the relative standard deviations were in the range of ± 0.2179–2.6741%. In addition, these conditions were employed for the removal of NSAIDs from the water samples using carbon nanotubes. The proposed system was applied for the separation and analyses of drugs in water and pharmaceutical samples, and acceptable recoveries of 90.48–98.15% for the water samples and 99.9–100.08% for the pharmaceutical samples were obtained.

Boerhavia elegans L. (Nyctaginaceae) is a tropical plant widely distributed in the eastern part of Yemen, Oman, and many other countries. B. elegans is used in traditional medicine to treat inflammation, anemia, and urinary tract disorders. The seeds, called Alhydawan, are used as food additives to prepare porridge, one of the most popular foods in Yemen. The present study aims to analyze the bioactive constituents of the methanolic extract of B. elegans seeds after fractionation on silica gel column chromatography. The methanolic extract was subjected to column chromatography and eluted with a hexane and hexane diethyl ether mixture of different compositions. The eluted fractions were tested with thin-layer chromatography. The gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis of fractions indicated some compounds such as dodecane, 2,6,11-trimethyl, butylated hydroxytoluene, 2,6,10-trimethyltridecane, hexadecane,2,6,11,15-tetramethyl, nonadecane, 2-methyl, 7,9-di-tert-butyl-1-oxaspiro(4,5) deca-6,9-diene-2,8-dione, n-hexadecenoic acid, octadecanoic acid, bis(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, 13-docosenamide, (Z)-, and phenol,2,4-bis(1,1-dimethyl ethyl) phosphite (3:1). Hence, B. elegans may have antimicrobial, anticancer, antioxidant, and antidiabetic activities due to the presence of secondary metabolites in the extract.