A preliminary phytochemical investigation of the tannin obtained from Pinus caribaea Morelet*

Abstract

A new and simple technique was developed in order to remove the water soluble substances from the tannin found in Pinus caribaea. This tannin exhibited all the chemical and physical properties usually attributed to phlobatannins. The so-called “phlobaphene test” when applied to certain derivatives gave a red color which indicated die development of a chromophoric group whose visible absorption spectrum was in die range of that exhibited by the anthocyanins. The colored compounds could be smoothly reduced to a colorless or nearly colorless compound which in appearance was much like the original compound. Analyses of several derivatives indicated that C15H14O6 residues might be present in the tannin molecule. The ultraviolet absorption spectrum of the original tannin and its derivatives was at about 2775 Å. which is in the region exhibited by several other naturally occurring phlobatannins and some anthocyanins.