Phytochemical Studies of the Ethyl Acetate Extract of the Fruit of Piper capense

Abstract

Natural products have been a major source of drugs for centuries. The fruit of Piper capense is used traditionally as spice and for the treatment of infectious diseases in different parts of Ethiopia. The main objective of this work is to carry out phytochemical study of the EtOAc crude extract of the fruit of P. capense. Phytochemical screening on this crude extract revealed the presence of phenols, alkaloids, steroids, terpenes, saponins and flavonoids. After silica gel column chromatography the crude extract led to the isolation of compound PC1 identified as 5-Hydroxy-7, 4’-dimethoxyflavone. Characterization of this compound was achieved via spectroscopic methods (NMR, UV and IR). The structure of compound PC2 was elucidated, the spectral data showed the presence of more than one compound one of which is partially characterized and proposed to be rotenone.