Abstract: Xylopia aethiopica is an evergreen, aromatic tree native to the West, Central and Southern Africa. The dried fruit is commonly called African pepper and have been used in folklore medicine. The extracts of the fruit which contain xylopic acid as a major constituent, have been shown to have antibacterial and antifungal properties. In Ghanaian traditional medicine, the extracts of the dried fruits are used with no knowledge of the amount of xylopic acid being taken. This work therefore, seeks to characterize and quantify the amount of xylopic acid which is in the fruits of Xylopia aethiopica. In order to obtain pure xylopic acid crystals for use as secondary reference, xylopic acid was extracted with petroleum ether (40-60^oC) and recrystallised in distilled alcohol. The melting point of the crystals was determined to be 261-262^oC and the Rf value of xylopic acid using petroleum ether (40-60^oC): ethylacetate (9:1) as the solvent system to be 0.53 ± 0.01. NMR, infrared and mass spectroscopy analyses were carried out to characterise the isolated crystals. An HPLC method was developed to quantify the xylopic acid extracted using methanol: water (9:1) as the mobile phase and a phenomenex hypersil 10 micron C-18, 200 x 3.2 mm reverse phase column. Detection was carried out at 206nm. The whole fruit contained 1.15% ± 0.08 (n=8) xylopic acid, the seeds contained 0.07% ± 0.02 (n=6) while the pericarp contained 0.87% ± 0.20 (n=6).
 

KEYWORDS: HPLC, quantification, spectroscopy, xylopic acid, Xylopia aethiopica