Chemical constituents from the seed husks of Oryza sativa L

Oryza sativa L. (Family Poaceae) is cultivated in tropical regions as a staple food all over the world. The rice grain husk is considered as a tonic and administered orally to relieve dysentery. The air-dried seeds husks of O. sativa were exhaustively extracted with methanol in a Soxhlet apparatus. The concentrated methanol extract was adsorbed on silica gel and chromatographed on a silica gel column. The column was eluted with petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol successively to isolate four phytoconstituents characterised as 7-ketostigmasterol (1), 3β-benzyloxy-stigmast-7-one-22-en-19-oic acid 29-ethyleneglycol ether (2), sesquaurs-11-en- 2β, 3β,5α-triol (3) and 2'-(1''β-hydroxypropyl)-7,4'-dimethoxyapigenin (4). These phytoconstituents were identified on the basis of spectral data analysis.