EXTRACTION AND ISOLATION OF NUCIFERINE FROM LOTUS LEAVES USING FLASH CHROMATOGRAPHY

Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn (Family: Nelumbonaceae), commonly known as lotus, is an aquatic perennial plant. The lotus leaves are used to treat fever, hematemesis, hyperlipidaemia and obesity. The leaves are rich in alkaloids such as nuciferine, roemerine, pronuciferine and N-nornuciferine, which are responsible for biological activity of leaf. In the present work, rapid and efficient flash chromatographic process for selective isolation of nuciferine from Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn was developed. The rate of extraction and purity of nuciferine depends upon the solvent used for extraction and optimized chromatographic conditions. Methanol was found to be best solvent for highest possible recovery of the nuciferine from Nelumbo nucifera Gaertn. Flash chromatography, also known as medium pressure chromatography, is used to speed up the flow of solvent, which decreases the time needed to purify the sample. The purified sample of nuciferine was then characterized by UV spectroscopy, HPTLC and HPLC-MS.