Identification of oleanolic and ursolic acid in aquatic plant Cabomba furcata

Preliminary studies of Cabomba furcata from Chini Lake, Pahang, Malaysia has shown that this plant containing bioactive phytochemical such as saponin. Unfortunately no intensive research has been conducted since saponin are believed to have medicinal benefits to the humankind and they have the potential to be commercialized in pharmaceutical field. This study was done to identify the type of saponin that are present in C. furcata. Hot extraction was performed by using methanol and HPLC - Dad with C18 column had confirmed the presence of oleanolic acid and ursolic acid in the aquatic plant.