Abstract

Phytochemical Investigation of Caralluma lasiantha: Isolation of Stigmasterol, an Active Immunomodulatory Agent

Author(s): Malladi S, Ratnakaram VN, Suresh Babu K and Pullaiah T

Stigmasterol, a phytosteroid was isolated for the first time from C. lasiantha using n-hexane as a solvent. Stigmasterol was characterized on the basis of physical, chemical and spectral data (IR, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 1HNMR, DEPT-45, 90 & 135, and MS) analysis as well as by comparing them to their literature data. A sequence of steps was adopted like saponification, fractional crystallization and gradient elution column chromatography to isolate stigmasterol because some phytosterols possess identical physical properties which makes it difficult to isolate the constituents.