Background: This study describes the isolation of chemical constituents from the leaves
and bark of
Phyllanthus acidus, a medicinal plant widely used for the treatment of several
ailments. Materials and Methods: The crude extract of
P. acidus was chromatographed
on a gravity column dry packed with silica gel and was fractionated by increasing
proportions of acetone in CH2
Cl2
. The purified isolates were subjected to NMR for
structure elucidation. Their structures were identified mainly by using 1
H-NMR and by
comparing current NMR data with those reported in the literature. Results: The results
showed that the air-dried leaves extracts of the plant afforded mixture of β-sitosterol
and stigmasterol while the bark yielded mixture of phyllanthol, α-amyrin, β-amyrin and
lupeol. Conclusion: The air-dried of DCM extract of
P. acidus resulted in the isolation
of the mixture of phyllanthol, α- amyrin, β-amyrin and lupeol from the bark and mixture
of β-sitosterol and stigmasterol from the leaves of the plant. It is important to conduct
detailed pharmacological and toxicity investigations as well as clinical studies using
different doses or concentrations to verify its traditional uses.