Eupatilin-7-O-2,6-Dirhamnosylgalactoside From The Leaves Of Boerhaavia Diffusa Linn

Abstract

Boerhaavia diffusa (Nyctaginaceae), commonly known as Punarnava, has been used to cure various ailments since vedic, unani and ayurvedic periods. Keeping in view the medicinal importance of the punarnava extracts among various ethnic groups of the Himalayas, the reducing potential of aqueous methanolic extract derived from the aerial parts of the plant was evaluated. The n-butanol soluble fraction from water-ethanolic extract, which was found to be a potent anti-oxidative and highly enriched with quercetin glycosides, was fractionated on whatmann N3 Keywords -Boerhaavia diffusa linn. , eupatilin, antioxidant activity, flavonol glycoside, flavones I. II. Materials And Methods Plant material:The aerial parts of Boerhaavia diffusa were collected from Kathgodam, a part of terai bhabar and foothill forming region of Kumaon. The flower bearing twig of the plant was authenticated by Prof. P.C. Pandey, Department of Botany, Kumaun University, S.S.J. campus, Almora-263601, Uttarakhand, and deposited in the same department with herb specimen No. FL-P-003. Extraction and isolation of flavonoid positive fractions:Three kg dried and powdered aerial parts of Boerhaavia diffusa were extracted sequentially with 80% methanol (MeOH) and 50% aqueous MeOH by cold percolation method for six days. The two extracts were filtered and combined. The combined extract was concentrated in vacuo until only H 2 O layer (approx. 60 ml) remained. It was partitioned with 50 %