Arum palaestinum Boiss, a wild edible plant in Palestine, is one of about 26
species of the arum genus which are flowering plants belonging to Araceae. The
plant is widely used in Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine
(TAPHM) in the treatment of several human diseases mainly cancer. This
investigation reports the separation and identification of phthalate compounds
such as dipropyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate and di-n-octyl phthalate for the
first time from the extract of Arum palaestinum, using HPLC and GCMS
techniques. In addition to these finding the amounts of phenolics, flavonoids and
phthalate contents were evaluated in the whole plant. Total phenolics were found
to be 3.9μg/mg pyrocatechol equivalent, and total flavonoids were found to be
270μg/mg as quercetin equivalent. One of the interesting results of this study also
was the evaluation of phthalates in different parts of the plant. Average values of
phthalates in the fresh plant parts were (36.3, 26.1, 5.6, 7.0μg/g) in leaves,
inflorescence, stem and inflorescence base respectively. In addition, the average
values of phthalates in different areas of Nablus region for whole plant were 48.3,
53.0, 50.9 μg/g. The findings of this study is discussed with relation to medicinal
and food uses of the plant in Palestinian communities.

Title

International Journal of Current Research and Academic Review 01/2014; 2(9):195-203

Publisher

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Publisher Country

Palestine

Publication Type

Both (Printed and Online)

Volume

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Year

2014

Pages

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