Separation techniques of flabelliferins from palmyrah (Borassus flabellifer L.) fruit pulp

Abstract

The flabelliferins (steroidal saponins) ofpalmyrah are of importance due to their significance in foodand bio activity. There are a plethora of flabelliferins and their separation and quantification is a challenge. This paper discusses the methods of purifying flabe lliferins and determining the flabelliferinprofiles of varying Palmyrah fruit pulps (PFP). Flabelliferins were separated by a number of techniques, namely flash chromatography, chromatotron, selective solvent extraction, solvent gradient chromatography and medium pressure liquid chromatography (MPLC). The best overall system of separation was MPLC although depending on flabelliferin profile, the other techniques had specific value.