CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS FROM THE SEEDS OF CELASTRUS PANICULATUS WILLD., LEAVES OF CAESALPINIA BONDUC (L.) ROXB. AND ROOT BARKS OF PREMNA MOLLISSIMA ROTH

Mohammed Ali*, Shahnaz Sultana and Showkat Rasool Mir

ABSTRACT

Celastrus paniculatus Willd. (Celastraceae) is a woody liana. Its seeds are used to treat abdominal disorders, arthritis, asthma, body ache, leprosy, dysmenorrhea, gout, menorrhea, paralysis, rheumatism, ulcers and skin diseases. The leaves of Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb. (family Caesalpinaceae) are beneficial to cure amenorrhea, asthma, body ache, chest pain, cough, diarrhoea, dysmenorrhoea, elephantiasis, fevers, headache, hepatomegaly, hydrocele, indigestion, intestinal worms, menstruation disorders, rheumatism, skin infections, smallpox and splenomegaly. Premna mollissima Roth (family Lamiaceae) is found in southern Asia. Its roots are useful to relieve abscess, asthma, bronchitis, cardiac disorders, cough, diabetes, diarrhoea, inflammations, neuralgia, obesity, rheumatoid arthritis, rhinitis, stomach disorders and as a post-delivery tonic for women. Our study was planned to isolate chemical constituents of the methanolic extracts obtained from the seeds of C. paniculatus, leaves of C. bonduc and root barks of P. mollissima and to characterize their structures. The air-dried plant materials were exhaustively extracted with methanol separately in a Soxhlet apparatus. Each concentrated methanolic extract was adsorbed on silica gel (60-120 mesh) one by one for the preparation of slurries. The dried slurries were chromatographed over silica gel columns individually packed in petroleum ether. The columns were eluted with petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol successively in order of increasing polarity to isolate a variety of phytoconstituents. Phytochemical investigation of the methanolic extract of the seeds of C. paniculatus gave a mixed glyceride identified as glycerol-1-linoleio-2-oleo-3-stearate (1). The leaf methanolic extract of C. bonduc afforded a new fatty acid characterized as n-triacont-5(Z),19(Z)-dienoic acid. The root bark methanolic extract of P. mollissima furnished the known phytoconstituents characterized as myristyl lignocerate (tetradecyl tetracosanoate, 3), β-sitosteryl oleate (4), 1-hexacosanol (5) and new monoterpenic esters 1-benzoyloxy-10-plamityloxy geranilane (6), 1-benzoyloxy-10-(octadec-9ꞌꞌ-enoyl) geranilane (7) and 1-benzoyloxy-10-octadecanyl geranilane (8). Their structures were established by analysis of spectral data analysis and chemical reactions.

Keywords: Celastrus paniculatus seeds, Caesalpinia bonduc leaves, Premna mollissima root barks, Chemical constituents, isolation, characterization.