Banaba, Lagerstroemia speciosa (L.) Pers. (Lythraceae) is a tree that grows in the tropic islands of the Pacific. This plants are used for medical purposes in the world. The components of L. speciosa were analyzed for the contents according to growing stages at leaves. The distributions of the corosolic acid (2α , 3β -dihydroxyurs-12-en-28-oic acid), phytol, campestrol, and vitamin E were rich among samples in this study. These were contained much fatty acids. The mean content of palmitic acid was from 2.4% across all growing stages, varying from 2.15% for young leaves with the lowest content and 2.86% for fallen leaves with the highest content. Oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid were contained nearly mean 2.0% in all leaves of banaba. Our results have shown that the phytochemical profile of young L. speciosa leaves differs quite radically from that of old L. speciosa leaves. In addition, these subdividing results according to plant growth should allow future researches to conduct targeted experimental studies and use of particular medical components of interest, examining chemical variation on the inter-developmental levels.

• Joo-Soo Choi
• Pyung-Tae Ku
• Kyung-Soon Cho
• Man-Kyu Huh