European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS FROM THE ROOTS OF CALOTROPIS PROCERA (AIT) R. BR.

Mohammed Ali*, Shahnaz Sultana and Showkat R. Mir

ABSTRACT

Calotropis procera (Ait) R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae) is a small, pubescent, evergreen and erect shrub which grows wild in south eastern Asia. Its roots are anthelmintic, depurative, diaphoretic, emetic, expectorant, febrifuge and purgative; used to treat anasarca, asthma, ascites, bronchitis, cough, skin diseases, intestinal worms, leprosy and eczema. An air-dried root powder of C. procera was extracted with methanol to obtain a dark brown viscous mass. It was dissolved in small amount of methanol and adsorbed on silica gel (60-120 mesh) for preparation of a slurry. The dried slurry was subjected to chromatography over silica gel column packed in petroleum ether. The column was eluted successively with petroleum ether, chloroform and methanol to isolate four new phytoconstituents identified as (all cis)-n-triacont-3,7,11,15,19,25-hexaene-1-ol (3), (cis)-n-tetratriacont-18-en-1-oic acid (4), urs-12, 20(30)-dien-3β-olyl laurate (5) and 1′-β-sitosteryl-2′-n-hexanoyl-glycerol (6) together with the known compounds β-sitosteryl linoleate (1) and nervonic acid (2). The structures of all the isolated phytoconstituents have been established on the basis of spectral data analyses and chemical reactions.

Keywords: Calotropis procera, roots, polyalkene, triterpenic ester, fatty acids, steroids.