PROCESS FOR OBTAINING CRYSTALLINE ESCIN FROM THE AESCULUS HIPPOCASTANUM FRUITS

摘要

A method is provided for readily recovering water insoluble crystalline escin as the free acid from seeds of Aesculus hippocastanum, which comprises extracting crushed Aesculus hippocastanum seeds with an organic, water-miscible solvent, preferably a lower aliphatic alcohol,contacting the resulting extraction liquid with a cation exchanger in its H+ form, separating the resulting eluate from said cation exchanger, concentrating the eluate, for example by distillation, and separating the resulting crystalline deposit of escinic acid, for example by centrifuging or other filtering technique the escin is useful in medicine in view of its antiphlogistic action.