Hedera helix L. plant belongs to the family Araliaceae that provide a host of bioactive compounds (mainly saponins) of important biological activities, like spasmolytic, secretolytic, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial activities. Literature survey revealed that there was no previously study concerning H. helix L. which is cultivated in Iraq, so we decided to carry out this study which include extraction, isolation, purification and identification of biologically important triterpenoid saponin hederacoside C from leaves of H. helix L. Extraction of hederacoside C was carried out using two methods; in the first method maceration  was done with methanol 99.8% and in the second method soxhlet extraction with ethanol 99.8%, was followed, then  fractionation using column chromatography. Preliminary identification of this saponin hederacoside C was done using thin layer chromatography (TLC) where different solvent systems had been tried. Liebermann-Burchard reagent where used for detection. The most suitable extraction method was fully described in this study. The characterization of the isolated hederacoside C was carried out using melting point (M.P.), thin layer chromatography (TLC), FT-IR, and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Keywords: Hedera helix L., Hederacoside C, Column chromatography.

The presence of the most important steroidal sapogenin “Tigogenin” in the leaves of Agave americana  cultivated in Iraq was detected. The absence of any study concerning the Tigogenin content of this medicinal plant in Iraq, and the industrial importance of Tigogenin depending on its role as a precursor in the synthesis of some steroidal drugs, acquired this study its value. This search include extraction,  isolation,  purification and dentification of Tigogenin from the leaves of Agave americana. Extraction of this compound was carried out using two methods. Identification of this compound is carried out by using thin layer chromatography (TLC) where three different mobile phase have been used. Detection is done by using  Libermann – Burchard reagent .High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) is also used  for further identification of tigogenin and then this steroidal saponin was isolated and purified. Isolated Tigogenin  is identified by using Thin layer chromatography (TLC), melting point (M.P.),  Infrared spectroscopy (IR) and High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) . This study confirms the presence of Tigogenin in the leaves of Agave americana cultivated in Iraq. Also the result of this study showed that the  second extraction method is better, because the amount of  both tigogenin and extract obtained from method No.2 are  more than one extraction method. Key words : Agave americana , Steroidal saponin , Tigogenin.

Alkaloids are a group of naturally occurring chemical compounds that contain mostly basic nitrogen atoms . They are a large family of compounds synthesized by plants in addition to the bacteria, fungi, and animals,  they often have pharmacological effects. The aim of this study is to isolate and identified alkaloids in a newly studied, wild Iraqi plant named Echinops heterophyllus. The medicinal importance of alkaloids, on one hand  and the absence of any phytochemical investigation on heterophyllus species of echinops genus on the other hand , acquired this study its importance. Three alkaloids (named E1, E2 and E3) were isolated from seed plant part by two chromatographic methods: Preparative high Performance Liquid Chromatography (PHPLC) and preparative thin layer chromatography (PTLC), one of them identified as(1-Methyl-2,3-dihydro-4(1H)-quinolinone by different chemical analysis like: ultra violet spectrum analysis (UV spectrum), Fourier transforms infrared spectra (FT-IR) , elemental microanalysis (CHN) and Proton1H-NMR and carbon 13C-NMR analysis. Key words: Echinops, heterophyllus, quinoline alkaloids.

Production of  the steroidal saponin digitonin  in multiplied shoots of Digitalis purpurea , (var. Excelsior Mixed) has been achieved in vitro by two experiments. In the experiment 1, shoot tips ( 1cm length ) explants  from the sterilized seedlings were excised and cultured on MS medium ( Murashige and Skoog medium) supplemented with 0.5 mg/L TDZ (thidiazuron) and   cholesterol at the concentrations 0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0 or 4.0 mg/L. After 45 day, results showed that the treatment with 0.5 mg/L TDZ and 2.0mg/L cholesterol had a positive effected on increasing the dry weight of multiplied shoots and their production of digitonin when compared with other treatments, where this treatment gave 2.98 g  dry weight of multiplied shoots and digitonin at amount of 64.42 mg/g dry weight, while the other studied characteristics of multiplied shoots (content the total chlorophyll, soluble sugars and starch.) also this treatment had appositive effected and was gave the following values:- (3.51 mg/g fresh weight, 5.06% ,6.09% ) respectively. After that experiment 2 was carried out . The objective of this  experiment was to increase the degree of digitonin production in multiplied shoots compared with the experiment 1.Therfore in the experiment 2, we were selected supplements the best treatment of  experiment 1(0.5mg /L TDZ  and 2.0mg/ L cholesterol )  and supplemented to the MS medium with the sugars glucose, fructose, sucrose or maltose at the concentrations 30,50,70 or 90 g/L for each sugar. After 45 days results showed that the treatment with  0.5 mg/L TDZ, 2.0 mg/L cholesterol and 50g/L maltose was the best a compared with other treatments, where this treatment  gave 4.52 g dry weight of multiplied shoots and digitonin at amount  of 191.87 mg/g dry weight .  The content of multiplied shoots from the total chlorophyll, soluble sugars and starch also this treatment  gave highest values and they are 4.97 mg/g fresh weight , 5.91% and 8.30%  respectively . Key words: Digitalis purpurea, Cholesterol, Sugars, Digitonin .

This study detects the presence of the most important steroidal sapogenin “Tigogenin” in the leaves of Yucca aloifolia widely cultivated in Iraq. The absence of any study concerning the Tigogenin content of this medicinal plant in Iraq, and the industrial importance of Tigogenin depending on its role as a precursor in the synthesis of some steroidal drugs, acquired this study its value. This study concerned with extraction, identification, isolation, and purification of Tigogenin from the leaves of Yucca aloifolia. Extraction of this compound was carried out using two methods. Identification of this compound was done using thin layer chromatography (TLC) where different solvent systems had been tried. Libermann – Burchard reagent was used for detection. This identification was further augmented by using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and then this steroidal saponin was isolated and purified. The identification of isolated Tigogenin was carried out using melting point (M.P.), Thin layer chromatography (TLC), infrared spectroscopy (IR) and High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) . This study confirms the presence of Tigogenin in the leaves of Yucca aloifolia cultivated in Iraq. Also the result of this study showed that the second extraction method was the best, because the amount of both extract and Tigogenin were higher than one extraction method. Key words : Yucca aloifolia , Steroidal saponin , "Tigogenin"

This study detects the presence of an important flavonoid "Casticin" in the fruits of Vitex agnus-castus L. grown in Iraq. The pharmaceutical importance of Casticin arise from its consideration as anti-tumor substance and have cytotoxic effects, and the absence of any study concerning Casticin content of this medicinal plant in Iraq, gave this study its importance. This study concerned with the extraction, identification, isolation and purification  of Casticin from the fruits of Vitex agnus-castus L. The extraction of this compound was carried out using  two methods. Identification of this compound was done by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) in which three different solvent system has been tried. This identification was further augmented by using High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) and then this compound was isolated and purified. Identification of the isolated Casticin was carried out using melting point (M.P.), Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), and Infrared spectroscopy (IR). This study confirms the presence of Casticin in the fruits of  Vitex agnus-castus L. grown in Iraq. Key words : Vitex agnus – castus , Flavanoid , Casticin