ANALYSIS OF THE HUSK AND KERNEL OF THE SEEDS OF MORINGA STENOPETALA

The ethanol extract of the kernel of the endemic plant Moringa stenopetala after silica gel column chromatography led to the isolation of 4-(alpha-L-rhamnopyranosyloxy) benzyl glucosinolate (1) and sucrose. The oil obtained by Soxhlet extraction with petrol was trans-esterified with BF3-MeOH and analyzed by GC-MS. The results showed the presence of diverse fatty acids namely palmitic (11%), palmitoleic (1.2%), stearic (11%), oleic (63%), linoleic (1.2%), arachidic (6%) and the rare behenic acids (6%). The white glossy seed husk which comprises 25% of the whole seed yielded two compounds namely 4-(sigma-L-rhamnosyloxy) benzyl alcohol (2) and allantoin (3). To the best of our knowledge this is the first report of compound 2 as a natural product. Allantoin is reported here for the first time from the genus Moringa.