Patents

A process for the fast isolation of ursolic acid from Diospyros melanoxylon, which comprises: (i) soxhlet extraction of the powdered coppiced leaves of Diospyros melanoxylon with a medium polar solvent for a period in the range of 12 to 36hrs at temperature in the range 64-78°C; (ii) concentrating reaction mixture as obtained in step (i) under reduced pressure to obtain crude extract; (iii) absorbing the crude extract as obtained in step (ii) on silica gel followed by flash chromatographic separation of the crude extract using CombiFlash chromatographic system to obtain the crude ursolic acid. (iv) decolorising the crude ursolic acid as obtained in step ( iii) with charcoal in acetone solution followed by recrystallisation from a organic solvent to obtain pure colorless ursolic acid.