Triterpenes from Urtica dioica L. roots of Ethiopian origin

Urtica dioica L. (family Urticaceae) is an herbaceous shrub originally from the colder regions of northern Europe and Asia grows today all over the world. It has a long history of use in the household home remedies and nutritious diet. This study was conducted to investigate the chemical constituents of the root of Urtica dioica L. grown in Ethiopia. The secondary metabolite class screening test of n-hexane extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, saponins and terpenoids, whereas the chloroform crude extract showed the presence of phenols, flavonoids, and tannins in addition to the classes of secondary metabolites present in the n-hexane extract. The methanolic extract revealed the presence of alkaloids, glycosides, phenols, saponins, steroids, tannins, flavonoids, and terpenoids. The column chromatographic separation of the methanolic extract afforded two ursane-type pentacyclic triterpenes namely 3β-hydroxy-urs-12-ene-28-oic acid commonly known as ursolic acid and 3,7,24-trihydroxylurs- 12-en-28-oic acid which is also known as 7,24 dihydroxy ursolic acid.