Isolation of ecdysterone from the roots ofRhaponticum carthamoides

The solubility of ecdysterone in individual solvents and mixtures has been studied. A method has been developed for isolating ecdysterone from the roots ofRhaponticum carthamoides. Extraction from the raw material was carried out with methanol. The catty oils and tanning and resinous substances were eliminated from the concentrated and water-diluted extract by treatment with chloroform. The combined ecdysteroids were extracted from the purified aqueous solution with chloroform-isopropanol (1:1). They were freed from pigments by chromatography on alumina (Brockmann activity grade II) with elution by methanol-chloroform (1:2). The product was recrystallized from methanol-ethyl acetate (1:9), giving 0.05% (on the weight of the raw material) of ecdysterone.