Phytochemical Analysis of Rhamnus cornifolia

Background and Rhamnus cornifolia is one of the species belonging to the rhamnaceae family that is abundantly found in different parts of Iran. Rhamnus frangula is one of the most important species of this family which contains anthraquinones that act as stimulant laxative. In this study we investigated Rhamnus cornifolia Boiss which to the best of our knowledge, no phytochemical study has been done on this plant yet. The plants were collected from Sisakht, Iran and morphological and microscopical characters of the plant were examined. An Antrakinon compound was isolated from the bark of the plant by column and thin-layer chromatography and identified by infrared, ultraviolet and mass spectrometry. Quantitative determination of total ash, water-soluble ash, acid-insoluble ash and sulphated ash were performed in the bark of Rhamnus cornifolia. Vitamin C concentrations in leaves were determined by titrimetric method. The structure of the isolated anthraquinone compound was identified to be 1-Hydroxy-3-methyl-6-vinyl-8-glycoside anthraquinone. Total ash, water-soluble ash, acid-insoluble ash and sulphated ash in the bark of Rhamnus cornifolia was 1.67%, 0.4%, 1.56% and 4.35%, respectively. Rhamnus cornifolia is believed to be a species that contains valuable active ingredients.