Abstract

Soxhlet extraction technique is employed for the extraction and separation of chemical constituents in the medicinal
plant, Elephantopus scaber L. The effect of parameters, such as different parts of the plant (leaves, roots and stems),
extraction time and types of solvent (n-hexane and methanol) on the extracted yield and the percentage of extraction
were investigated. The design of experiment was done using factorial design. The data were analyzed using ANOVA as
well as factorial design. The experimental results show that the methanol is better than n-hexane but an extraction time
of 9 hours was required for stems and roots while 12 hours for leaves. Essential crude of Elephantopus scaber L.
obtained by Soxhlet extraction was further analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry detection to identify the
chemical ingredients of the plant and used as a standard in the qualitative analysis for certain chemical compounds
based on the retention time on the chromatogram. Six compounds such as stigmasterol, lupeol, stearic acid,
deoxyelephantopin isomers, analogue 1 and analogue 2 of deoxyelephantopin have been identified. Oven temperature
program of gas chromatography has been developed in this research. The results obtained, enable one to make
qualitative and quantitative analysis for the essential oil which was extracted from the herbal plant. Maximum
extraction conditions of the stigmasterol and lupeol were determined by comparing the area percentage below the peak
in chromatogram with the GCMS standard. Stigmasterol: 6 hours extraction time using n-hexane and stems show the
highest area percentage (8.145%). Lupeol: 9 hours extraction time using n-hexane and stems show the highest area
percentage (68.580%).

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