Isolation and characterisation of Lup-20(29)-en-3β-ol from the methanol stem bark extract of Bombax costatum pv (bombacacea)

Abstract

Bombax costatum, a plant widely distributed in the Sahel savannah of West Africa is well known for its traditional use as a diuretic. This study is aimed at isolation, purification and characterization of phytoconstituents from the stem bark of this plant. The powdered stem bark was extracted with methanol by maceration at room temperature. Phytochemical screening of the crude methanol extract was done according to standard procedure. The crude methanol extract was subjected to solvent-solvent fractionation to obtain the hexane, chloroform and ethylacetate fractions. Repeated column chromatographic separation of the chloroform fraction resulted in the isolation of white amorphous solid (compound B3). Phytochemical screening of the stem bark of B. costatum revealed the presence of flavonoids, saponins, glycosides, tannins, steroids and terpenoids. On the basis of spectroscopic analyses (1D and 2D NMR) and comparison of spectra data with literature, compound B3 was identified as a lupeol a triterpenoid of the lupane class.