Isolation and Characterization of Oleanolic Acid Benzoate from the Ethylacetate Leaves Extracts of Vernonia ambigua (Kotschy Ex. Peyr)

Abstract

Vernonia ambigua, an annual herb which belongs to the family Asteraceae/Compositae has been used in ethnomedicine to treat different ailments such as fungal infection, diarrhea and intestinal worm among others. The aim of the study was to isolate and characterize compound(s) from the leaves of V. ambigua. Powdered leaf of the plant were gradiently extracted with n-hexane, ethylacetate and methanol using Soxhlet extractor. The ethyl acetate extract was gradiently eluted in a silica gel column and further purified using preparative thin-layer chromatography which led to the isolation of colourless solid substance identified as Oleanolic acid benzoate via chemical tests, 1D-NMR analysis and by comparison with reference spectral data. After thorough exploration of the leaf extract of V. ambigua, using available techniques, it can be concluded that the leaf part of the plant contains a chemical compound suggested to be oleanolic acid benzoate.