www.ajprd.ocatch.com *Author for correspondence; E-mail address: : ahmadu2001@yahoo.com , Tel: ++2348037033505 Flavonoids from the leaves of Physalis angulata Linn Augustine A Ahmadu* and Ufuoma Omonigho Department of Pharmaceutical and Medicinal Chemistry Niger –Delta University, Wilberforce island P.M.B 071, Yenagoa- Nigeria ABSTRACT Plants from the genus Physalis are particularly rich in secondary metabolites. Physalis angulata is a widely distributed annual plant belonging to the nightshade family Solanaceae. Physalis angulata have been used for centuries as medicinal herbs in the treatment of urinary tract infection,skin diseases,gonnorhea,ulcers,sores and as vermicidal drug.The main purpose of this present study is to screen for phytochemical constituents that may be responsible for some of these biological activity. The dried leaves of Physalis angulata were sequentially extracted with dichloromethane and 70 %methanol. The aqueous methanol extract was partitioned between water, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. From the n-butanol fraction, three Flavonoids were isolated through repeated column chromatography over silica gel G and sephadex LH-20. Based on the spectroscopic data which include NMR and mass spectroscopy,the chemical structures were determined as quercetin(1),quercetin 3-O- methyl ether (2) and isoquercetrin(3). These compounds were isolated for the first time from the leaves of this plant. KEYWORDS: Physalis angulata, flavonoids,quercetin,quercetin methyl ether and isoquercetrin INTRODUCTION The plant kingdom is vast and the antique use of plant to treat various diseases in human beings is not well known. There is considerable number of natural products used in traditional medical systems in many countries as alternative medicine for the treatment of various diseases [1].Many of these plants provide relieve of symptoms comparable to that obtained from allopathic medicines[1].Physalis angulata belonging to the night shade family solanaceae is known by several names including: cut leaf ground cherry,wild tomato,camapu and winter cherry. It is a branch annual shrub and is widely distributed throughout tropical and subtropical regions of the world including Nigeria and its extracts and infusions have been used in many countries in popular medicine in the treatment of a variety of diseases such as malaria,dermatitis,asthma,hepatitis and rheumatism [2,3].The methanol extracts of the leaves of physalis angulata has been reported to show cytotoxic activity against P-388,KB-16 and A-549 cell lines with ED50 between 2.5-3.93 µg/ml and from this extract a new flavonol glycoside Myrcetin 3-O- neohesperidoside was isolated with ED50 of 0.048 µg/ml on lymphocytic leukaemia P-388 cells [4].Physalins A,B,C and D have been isolated from the leaves of this plant and these compounds were reported to possess antimicrobial and antiparasitic activity [5,6]. The presence of Withanolides A and B was reported by [7].In this present study, we report here in the isolation of three flavonoids from the n- butanol soluble fraction of the aqueous methanol extract of Physalis angulata leaves. MATERIALS AND METHODS Instrument The NMR experiments were recorded in CD3OD and TMS as internal standard on a Bruker Avance DRX 400MHz and 100MHz spectrophotometer. UV was carried out on Jenway 6505 UV-visible spectrophotometer,while IR was performed on Perkin-Elmer FT infra-red spectrophotometer. Mass spectra were recorded on LC-MS ESI-MS positive mode.Thin layer chromatography was performed on pre-coated silica gel plate(0.2mm)Merck (Germany),column chromatography was carried out on silica gel G(230-400 Vol. 5 No.1 pp.40-43 (2013) African Journal of Pharmaceutical Research & Development