Objective: To separate the chemical compositions of root of Cynara scolymus and identify the structures of the monomer compounds. Method: 90% and 60% ethanol extracts were respectively used to extract root of C. scolymus and obtained the ethanol extraction of this plant

then they were extracted for 3 times with petroleum ether

ethyl acetate

and n-butanol to get three different polarity extractions. The extractions were dried to get three liquidum extractum. The ethyl acetate liquidum extractum were isolated and purified with repeated silica gel column chromatography

D-101 macroporous adsorption resin

ODS reversed phase column chromatography

hydroxypropyl sephadex column chromatography

high performance liquid chromatography

high-performance preparative liquid chromatography

and continuous recrystallization. The structures were identified on the basis of spectral data and physicochemical properties. Result: 11 Compounds were isolated from root of C. scolymus and their structures were identified as ethyl caffeate (1)

5-methoxyfurfural (2)

vanillic acid (3)

protocatechuic aldehyde (4)

5-O-caffeoyl quinic acid methyl ester (5)

apigenin (6)

luteolin (7)

luteolin-7-O-β-D-glucoside (8)

cynarine (9) cynarine methyl ester (10) and β-sitosterol (11). Conclusion: Compounds 2

3

and 4 were isolated from Cynara for the first time and compounds 1

5

and 10 were isolated from root of C. scolymus for the first time.