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Planta Med 1968; 16(2): 147-157
DOI: 10.1055/s-0028-1099893
© Georg Thieme Verlag Stuttgart · New York

IDENTIFICATION OF CONSTITUENTS OF OPUNTIA FRAGILIS

R. A. Abramovitch, R. T. Coutts, E. E. Knaus
  • From the Department of Chemistry and the College of Pharmacy, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada
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Publication History

Publication Date:
15 January 2009 (online)

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Summary

Ethanol extraction of Opuntia fragilis Nutt gave neutral and acidic material. Column chromatography of the neutral material yielded two major fractions, a mixture of saturated long–chain aliphatic esters and a mixture of unsaturated long chain aliphatic esters. The saturated fraction was shown by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry to consist of a homologous series of esters, the molecular weights of which ranged from 676 to 802. Similarly the unsaturated fraction was shown to consist of a homologous series of esters with molecular weights in the range 474 to 628. The unsaturation was located in the acid portions of the unsaturated esters.

Saponification of the acidic material followed by methylation and gas–chromatographic analysis indicated the presence of p–hydroxybenzoic acid, vanillic acid and ferulic acid in addition to undecylic, lauric, myristic, pentadecylic, palmitic, and stearic acids in this fraction. Alkaloids were absent.

Zusammenfassung

Es wird über die Identifizierung verschiedener Inhaltsstoffe eines aethanolischen Extraktes aus Opuntia fragilis mit Hilfe der GLC und der Massenspektroskopie berichtet.