Phytochemical Investigation and Characterization on the Stem Bark Extract of Croton macrostachyus

Abstract

Croton macrostachyus which is called ‘rush foil’ or ‘broadleaved croton is a multipurpose, medium sized, drought-deciduous pioneer tree. It is a tall tree found in tropical regions of Africa. The genus Croton belongs to the family Euphorbiaceae, which commonly known asthe ‘spurge’ family, and it is known as ‘Bisana’ (in Amharic).Traditionally, C. macrostachyus used for treatment of malaria, rabies, gonorrhea, wound, diarrhea, hepatitis, jaundice, scabies, toothache, abdominal pain, cancer, typhoid, pneumonia and gastrointestinal disorders and as ethno-veterinary medicine.The air dried and powdered plant material (400g) was first soaked with 500mL n-hexane for 48hours and yielded 2g of n-hexane extract. Marc was soaked with 500mL of chloroform for 36hours and afforded 3.5g of chloroform extract. Finally, Marc was soaked with 500mL of methanol and yielded 18g of methanol extract.The chloroform extract of the stem bark ofC. Macrostachyus afforded a compound coded as EO. Its Structural determination was accomplished by means of spectroscopic techniques, namely IR, 1H NMR,13C NMR and DEPT-135. The compound, EOwas isolated and characterized from the stem bark of C. macrostachyus. Generally, more advanced chromatographic techniques are required to isolate more compounds from stem bark of C. macrostachyus. Also MS and 2D NMR spectroscopic techniques are needed to fully characterize the isolated compound.