The phytochemical analysis of the butanolic extract from the leaves of date palm of Saudi origin resulted in the isolation of three major constituents, oleanolic acid (1), vanillyl alcohol (2), and β-sitosterol-3-O-β-d-glucoside (3), which had not been isolated from this plant or previously reported. Together, compounds 1 and 2 account for 1.0% of the butanol extract, which represents 0.4% of the mass of the dried leaves. The isolation of other known compounds for this plant such as fatty acids, lutein, and sucrose was also achieved in this study. The characterization and identification of the isolated compounds were conducted on the basis of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), 1H and 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses. The findings of the current study will definitely increase the knowledge about the contribution of the constituents of this plant to its well-known nutrition, corrosion inhibition, and antimicrobial properties.
Keywords: characterization; date palm; isolation; phenolic; terpenes.