Extraction and purification of deguelin from Derris trifoliata lour root

This article deals with extraction and purification of deguelin, which is a main rotenoid occurred in the root of Derris trifoliate Lour. Deguelin has gained much attention of scientists because of its potential ability to inhibit cancer cell proliferation. The dried root powder was extracted with ethanol by ultrasonic-assisted extraction for 30 min, and then filtrated and concentrated to give pasty concentrate. The concentrate was loaded onto silica gel column chromatography subsequently; and the chemical was eluted using a binary solvent mixture of petroleum ether (60-90ºC)-ethyl acetate (4:1, v/v). All tentative identification was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Most crystal of deguelin was obtained after the fractions mainly containing deguelin were pooled and placed in the dark at 4ºC for three days. With recrystallization from carbon tetrachloride for three times, the purity of deguelin crystal was 99.15% and the yield was 0.55% of the dried weight of D. trifoliate Lour root.