Phytosterols from Dombeya torrida (J. F. Gmel.)

Abstract

Dombeya torrida collected from Kinale forest in Kiambu County, Kenya, was Soxhlet extracted with chloroform and by percolation using a  dichloromethane:methanol mixture. The extracts were fractionated using normal phase silica gel in an open column. Five compounds were isolated namely friedelin, friedelan-3β-ol, α-sitosterol, taraxerol and stigmasterol. This is the first report of isolation of these compounds from Dombeya torrida. The isolated compounds were identified by means of ¹H-NMR, ¹³C-NMR, DEPT, MS and IR analyses.

Key words: Dombeya torrida, friedelin, friedelan-3β-ol, β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, taraxerol.