The extraction, isolation and identification of the purgative component of Croton penduliflorus seed oil.

ABSTRACT

The purgative principles in Croton penduliflorus seed oil were isolated as white crystals by a bioassay-guided chromatographic separation process. The crystals were recovered in 7% w/w yield and identified (IR, 1H-NMR, GC-MS) as a mixture of palmitic, stearic and arachidic acids in approximately equimolar concentration.