Rapid isolation of vitexin from leaves of kinkeliba, Combretum micranthum G. Don

Abstract

Vitexin, the main flavonoid was extracted from the leaves of Combretum micranthum in soxhlet with ethanol. The extract evaporated to dryness and retrieved thanks to hot water. That liquid extract went through a degreasing and extracted again with butanol. The butanolic extract evaporated to dryness and dissolved in methanol, in which the vitexin precipitated after the washing and the recrystallisation of the first obtained precipitate. From 500g of dry kinkeliba leaves, a series of manipulations led to the isolation of 0.0576 g of vitexin, yielding 0.013% per ounce of the kinkeliba leaves dry powder. The degree of purity of vitexin was 94.79% on the basis of HPLC/UV-Vis/MS of the chemical formula C21H20O10. According to the spectral data NMR 1H and 13C the molecular structure of the vitexin is identified.