European Journal of Medicinal Plants

Objective: To learn the phytochemical screening of various compounds from different extracts of Nymphaea nouchali Burm.f flowers.

Materials and Methods: Nymphaea nouchali flowers were extracted with different solvents (n-hexane, ethyl acetate and ethanol (70%). n - Hexane extract (10 g) was eluted with n-Hexane: CHCl₃ in graded mixtures gave fifteen different fractions, which was further rechromatographed to afford two compounds.  The ethyl acetate fraction (12 g) was eluted with n-hexane: EtOAc: H₂O (70:30:3). Nineteen fractions were obtained and rechromatographed to give three compounds and ethanolic extract (10 g) was eluted with CHCl₃-MeOH-H₂O (90:10:1) to afford three fractions which were rechromatographed to yield a single compound.

Results: 10-eicosenoic acid (1), linoleic acid (2) from n-hexane,7,8 - dihydroxy α-tocopherol-9-O-pyranoside (3), quercetin-3-O-alpha-rhaminoside (4), kaempferol (5) from EtOAc and vasicinone (6) from ethanloic extracts were isolated  from Nymphaea nouchali flowers for the first time. The structures of the isolated compounds (1-6) were realized on the basis of the spectral data (IR, ¹H &¹³C NMR and Mass).

Conclusion: The obtained compounds of Nymphaea nouchali Burm.f. flowers are effective pharmaceutical compounds which will serve as a better alternative to chemical based pharmaceuticals.