Phthalate derivatives are naturally occurring in Arum Palaestinum

Arum palaestinum Boiss, a wild edible plant in Palestine, is one of about 26 species of the arum genus which are flowering plants belonging to Araceae. The plant is widely used in Traditional Arabic Palestinian Herbal Medicine (TAPHM) in the treatment of several human diseases mainly cancer. This investigation reports the separation and identification of phthalate compounds such as dipropyl phthalate, diisobutyl phthalate and di-n-octyl phthalate for the first time from the extract of Arum palaestinum, using HPLC and GCMS techniques. In addition to these finding the amounts of phenolics, flavonoids and phthalate contents were evaluated in the whole plant. Total phenolics were found to be 3.9μg/mg pyrocatechol equivalent, and total flavonoids were found to be 270μg/mg as quercetin equivalent. One of the interesting results of this study also was the evaluation of phthalates in different parts of the plant. Average values of phthalates in the fresh plant parts were (36.3, 26.1, 5.6, 7.0μg/g) in leaves, inflorescence, stem and inflorescence base respectively. In addition, the average values of phthalates in different areas of Nablus region for whole plant were 48.3, 53.0, 50.9 μg/g. The findings of this study is discussed with relation to medicinal and food uses of the plant in Palestinian communities. KEYWORDS