Abstract
"Eucalyptus leaf extract", a natural food additive, is commercially available as steam distillate, or an ethanol extract of eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus LABILL) leaf and is officially approved in the "Lists of Existing Food Additives in Japan". In our ongoing study to evaluate its quality and safety as a food additive, major components in "Eucalyptus leaf extract" were purified and characterized. Five major compounds were purified from "Eucalyptus leaf extract" by the preparative HPLC. Each component was identified as gallic acid, quercetin 3-O-β-D-glucuronide, kaempferol 3-0-β-D-glucuronide, 2, 4-dihydroxy-3-(3-methyl-l-butenyl)-5-methylbenzaldehyde 6-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, named globuluside and macrocarpal I by NMR and FAB-MS. A novel compound, globuluside, was newly purified and characterized from naturally occurring materials on the basis of the spectral evidence.
