CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS FROM THE RHIZOMES OF ALPINIA OFFICINARUM AND STEM BARKS OF BALANITES AEGYPTIACA AND BOMBAX CEIBA

Mohammed Ali*, Vijender Singh, Shahnaz Sultana and Showkat Rassol Mir

ABSTRACT

Alpinia officinarum Hance (Zingiberaceae) is a perennial herb and its rhizomes are used to treat colic, diarrhoea, dyspepsia, fever, flatulence, gastritis, indigestion, malaria, microbial infections, epigastric pain, stomach ache and vomiting. Balanites aegyptiaca (L.) Delile (Balanitaceae) is a deep-rooted, evergreen, multibranched, spiny shrub and its stem bark is prescribed to relieve epilepsy, yellow fever, heartburn, jaundice, mental diseases, roundworm infection, syphilis and wounds. Bombax ceiba L. (Malvaceae) is a tall tree and its bark is effective against cholera, cough, diarrhoea, dysentery, fevers, indigestion, jaundice, menorrhoea, piles, pleurisy, stings, skin diseases, stomach ache, wounds and to regulate menstruation. Our study was planned to isolate the chemical constituents from the rhizomes of A. officinarum and stem barks of B. aegyptiaca and B. ceiba and to characterize their structures. The air-dried plant materials were extracted with methanol separately. The concentrated methanolic extracts were subjected to silica gel (60-120 mesh) column chromatography individually. The columns were eluted with solvents successively in order of increasing polarity to isolate a variety of phytoconstituents. Phytochemical investigation of the rhizomes of A. officinrum gave a new triterpenoid identified as bauere-7, 20(30)-dien-3β-oyl octadecenoate (bauerenyl stearate, 1), tetratriacontanoic acid (geddic acid, 2), hexatriacontanoic acid (3), (Z)-cis- n-octatetracont-11-enoic acid (4), 13β-carboxylic acid n-hexadecanoic acid (5) and 1- hexadeanoyl-3-phosphatyl glycerol (6). The stem bark of Balanites aegyptiaca furnished α-D-glucopyranosyl-(6→1′)-O- α-D-glucopyranoside (6-O-α-D-glucosyl α-D-glucose, 7) and 2-O-β-D-diglucosyl O-β-D-dirhamnoside (8). The stem bark of Bombax ceiba afforded lupeol (9) and 2-hexyl-7,8-dimethyl 1,4-naphthaquinone (10). Their structures were established on the basis of spectral data analysis and chemical reactions.

Keywords: Alpinia officinarum rhizomes, Balanites aegyptiaca stem bark, Bombax ceiba stem bark, phytoconstituents, isolation, spectral data analysis.