World Journal of Chemistry 13 (1): 01-13, 2018 ISSN 1817-3128 © IDOSI Publications, 2018 DOI: 10.5829/idosi.wjc.2018.01.13 Corresponding Author: Legesse Adane,Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Hawassa University P.O. Box: 005, Hawassa, Ethiopa. Cell phone: +251-916395678, E-mail: adanelegesse@gmail.com. 1 Phytochemical Investigation and Isolation of Compounds From Ajuga integrifolia Root Extract Derilo Bekeri, Legesse Adane and Fikre Mamo Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Sciences, Hawassa University Abstract: Ajuga integrifolia is one of the medicinal plants found in Ethiopia. Its different morphological parts are used for treatment of several human illnesses suggesting the need of identification of secondary metabolite that are responsible for the observed traditional medicinal use of the plant. The objective of study is to carry out phytochemical screening tests of crude extracts of the roots of this plant species and also to isolate compounds from extracts. Crude extracts were obtained from dried ground roots using solvents of different polarity (n-hexane, dichloromethane/methanol (1:1) and methanol) for extraction and employing sequential extraction approach. The phytochemical screening tests carried out on the extracts revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, phenols, glycosides, terpenoids, tannins, saponins and steroids. Chromatographic separation from dichloromethane/methanol (1:1) extract lead to isolation of two compounds (DB6 and DB4). The compounds were identified to be 1-O-3,4-(dihydoxyphenyl)-ethyl- -D-apiofuranosyl-(1 4)- -L- rhamnopyranosyl- (1 3)-4-O-caffeoyl- -D-glucopyranoside and (24S)-24-ethylcholesta-5,25-diene-11 -hydroxy- 1-one, respectively, based on the spectral data and comparison with literature reports. This is the first report of isolation of the compounds from this species. Key words: Ajuga Integrifolia Phytochemical Investigation Phenylpropanoid Glycosides Terpenoids Secondary Metabolites INTRODUCTION In Ethiopia, Ajuga integrifolia grows in different Natural products/Medicinal plants are known to be the major sources of several drugs that have been used for treatment of human diseases [1] and are also expected to be the sources of future (modern) drugs [2]. The genus Ajuga is a plant traditionally used for its medicinal value in many parts of the world including Ethiopia. The most important parts of the plant used in traditional medicine are leaves, stems and roots. Ethnopharmacological surveys have revealed that some 20 species of Ajuga plants are used in traditional medicine mostly in Africa, Asia and China [3]. Ajuga integrifolia is one of species in genus Ajuga. It is distributed from northeast Africa, through Arabia, temperate and tropical Asia to New Guinea. It has a very bitter taste, moderately to densely hairy grayish green leaves with pale violet, light blue or white flowers (Figure 1). parts of especially in Southern Ethiopia. Some of the areas are Wolayta, Dawuro, Bench-Maji, Sidama, Hadiya and Kambata zones. The plant is known by several local names in these areas. These include “Annamura” (Wolaita), “Anamuro” (Sidama), “Anamunure” (Gedeo), “Anamuro” (Amharic), “Annamura” (Hadiyigna) [4-9]. The aqueous and sometimes alcohol infusion of the fresh or dried leaves or root of the plant are traditionally used for treating various types of diseases such as diabetes, malaria, pain and fevers, toothache, skin disease, hypertension, stomachache, pneumonia, liver problem, swelling of legs, diarrhea (child), evil eye, retained placenta and ascariasis [6, 7, 10] and epilepsy [11]. Though the plant is widely used traditionally to treat the aforementioned human health problems, there are no reports on its phytochemical investigations. Thus, this study was initiated to carry out phytochemical screening and isolation of compounds from roots of Ajuga integrifolia.