Isolation and Characterization of the Chemical Constituents of the Stem Bark of Parinari polyandra Benth

The young and old stock stem barks of Parinari polyandra Benth. were air-dried, chopped into smaller pieces and cold extracted exhaustively with ethanol. The phytochemical screening of the crude extracts was carried out using standard procedures while the young stem bark crude extract was partitioned with n-hexane. The crude extract and the partitioned fractions were concentrated and fractionated using column chromatography packed with Si-gel and alumina and eluted with appropriate solvent systems accordingly. In order to obtain pure compounds, partially purified fractions were further purified using Preparative Thin Layer Chromatography. The preliminary phytochemical test carried out on the crude extracts showed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, polyphenols, reducing sugars and cardiac glycosides. The structures of the isolated compounds were determined by using data obtained from GC-MS spectrum. The most abundant compound, oleic acid, isolated from the stem bark extracts of P. polyandra Benth. is a healthy source of fat in the diet and it has also been implicated to be responsible for the hypotensive effects of olive oil.