The Oils from Stems, Leaves and Roots of Elephantopus scaber Linn.

Abstract

The oil from stems, leaves and roots of Elephantopus scaber Linn. were extracted by solvent macerationtechnique. The percentage yield oil from stems, leaves and roots are 0.001%, 0.003% and 0.04%, respectively.The stem oil gives major constituents of pentacosane (12.3%), lupenyl acetate (11.7%) and fern-7-en-3β-ol(11.0%), while the leaf oil contains isooctyl phthalate (19.2%), hexadecanoic acid (15.0%) and α-linolenic acid(5.0%) as the major components. The major constituents identified in the root oil are hemellitol (11.6%), octylphthalate (6.0%), 1-nonadecanol (5.6%) and 1-octadecanol (5.5%). There were only three compounds detectedand identified in all three parts of the plant, namely decanedioic acid, bis-(2-ethylhexyl)ester, dotriacontane andpentacosane. The oils were analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer and the compounds wereidentified by comparison with the mass spectral fragmentation pattern database.