Identification of Trans-Cinnamic Acid in Sinyo Nakal (Duranta repens) Fruits’ Methanol Extract

Aims: To isolate and to characterize the chemical constituents in sinyo nakal (Duranta repens) fruits’ methanol extract. The fruits were collected from Jombang, East Java, Indonesia.

Methodology: The fruits have been extracted with n-hexane in previous study to separate the nonpolar components. Fractionation of the methanol extract was done by using liquid vacum chromatography (LVC) with step gradient elution from n-hexane to ethyl acetate, followed by methanol.

Results: Methanol fraction gave the highest yield. A yellowish white crystal was obtained in further fractionation of this fraction. The compound was still impure and could not be purified and characterized further because of limited amount of sample.

Conclusion: The compound has been identified as trans-cinnamic acid based on 1D and 2D-nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra analysis.