sponds to at least one component in the mixture, the results 
shown in figure | and figure 2 indicate that the extract contains 
a large number of components. These components have not 
been identified but the results indicate that these methods, 
particularly the high pressure liquid chromatographic method, 
could be used to separate some of the components in quantities 
large enough for further chemical and biological characteriza- 
tion. The analytical scans are, in effect, the signature of ixbut in 
chromatography under the stated conditions, for future refer- 
ence. 
PROCEDURE 
A 5.0 g sample of dried leaves of Euphorbia lancifolia was 
homogenized briefly with 100 ml of ethanol in a blender. The 
mixture was transferred to a Soxlet apparatus and extracted at 
reflux with 250 ml of 95% ethanol. These extraction conditions 
were chosen to approximate the use of the plant by boiling the 
leaves in water to give an herbal tea. 
The ethanolic extract was subjected to gas liquid (glc) and 
high pressure liquid (hplc) chromatographic analyses. 
The glc analysis was carried out on a 6ft x 1/8 inch stainless 
steel column of 2% OV-17 on 100/120 mesh Supelcoport using a 
Varian 1400 instrument equipped with a temperature pro- 
grammed run from 100°C to 340°C at 20°/min. temperature rise. 
The gle scan for this run is shown in figure 1. 
The hple analysis was done on a 30 cm x 3.9 mm “‘reverse 
phase’ column of « Bondapak Cis using a Water ALC 200 
instrument with an ultraviolet (254 nm) detector. A satisfactory 
analysis was obtained using acetonitrile as the mobile phase. 
The hple scan for this run is shown in figure 2. 
According to Dr. Juan Jose Urrutia, Chief, Nutrition and 
Infection program of the INCAP, ixbut is rarely used at the 
present time as a galactagogue in Guatemala City. On the 
whole, the pure Indian in the rural areas of Guatemala pro- 
duces more milk for breast feeding than the urbane mother of 
white or mixed racial background in the city. 
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