Ecdysterone and Antioxidants in Purslane (Portulaca oleracea Linn.)

M. Daniel*¹ and Denni Mammen^2
1Dr. Daniel’s Laboratories, Rutu Platina, Opp. Hans Farm, Manjalpur, Vadodara, India-390011
²Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, M. S. University, Vadodara, India-390002

Abstract
Purslane (Portulaca oleracea Linn.), a common weed of great importance as a nutraceutucal, was studied for its steroids and phenolics. The methanolic extract is found to contain up to   0.532 mg (in 100g of dry powder) of ecdysterone, in addition to β–sitosterol. Quercetin was present in traces and the phenolic acids present were vanillic and syringic acids. Both betacyanins and betaxanthins also were located. The discovery of appreciable amount of the anabolic steroid ecdysterone having a number of pharmacologically significant properties in elevating the status of purslane as a nutraceutical of great potential is discussed.
Keywords: Purslane, Portulaca oleracea,    Ecdysterone, Vanillic acid, Syringic acid