Scopoletin: A new coumarin isolated from four parts of Iraqi Eichhornia crassipes: its extraction, isolation and structure elucidation

The primary focus of the current study was to confirm the presence of scopoletin as a novel metabolite in Iraqi Eichhornia crassipes. Since there are currently no studies on Iraqi E. crassipes coumarins, particularly scopoletin, in the literature survey, the aim of the current work is to compare the effectiveness of ultrasound-assisted extraction using both a probe and a bath with the traditional extraction method (using Soxhlet) for extracting coumarins, particularly scopoletin, from Iraqi E. crassipes flowers, leaves, stems and roots. The objective of study was accomplished using a quick and efficient method to identify and quantify scopoletin, a bioactive compound, in 4 parts of the E. crassipes plant. High-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) was employed to verify the presence of coumarins, including scopoletin, in these plant parts. The findings revealed that the leaves contained the highest concentration of scopoletin (0.1876 mg/mL), followed by the flowers (0.145 mg/mL), stems (0.1396 mg/mL) and the roots, which had the lowest concentration (0.089 mg/mL). The leaves were extracted using ultrasound-assisted extraction (UAE), resulting in the most significant yield of scopoletin. Silica gel column chromatography was used to isolate and purify coumarins (scopoletin) from E. crassipes leaves. Finally, the melting point of the extracted compound (scopoletin) was measured and it was confirmed and characterized by several techniques, which include liquid chromatography/ mass spectroscopy (LC/MS), 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), Fourier transforms infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and measuring the melting point.