European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

NEW LANOSTANYL TRITERPENOIDS FROM THE ROOTS OF CALOTROPIS PROCERA (AIT.) R. BR.

Abhilasha Mittal and Mohammed Ali*

ABSTRACT

Calotropis procera (Ait) R. Br. (Asclepiadaceae) is a small, hardy, pubescent, evergreen, erect and compact shrub which grows wild in south eastern Asia. Its roots are alterative, anthelmintic, depurative, diaphoretic, emetic, expectorant, febrifuge and purgative; prescribed to treat anasarca, asthma, ascites, bronchitis, cough, skin diseases, intestinal worms, leprosy and eczema. The air-dried roots of C. procera collected from the arid region of Rajasthan were powdered and extracted exhaustively with methanol. The extract 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 three new triterpenic constituents characterized as lanostan-3β-ol-28-al-3β-D-galactofuranosyl-(2'→1'')-β-D-galactofuranosyl-2"-(2"'-methoxy)- benzoate (proceralanostanolide A) (3), lanostan-3β-ol-30-al-3β-D-galactofuranosyl-(2'→1")-β-D-galactofuranosyl-2"-(2"'-methoxy)-benzoate (proceralanostanolide B) (4) and lanost-24-en-3β-ol-3-β-D-galactofuranosyl-(2a→1b)-β-D-galactofuranosyl-(6b→1c)-β-D-galactopyranosyl-(6c1d)–β-D-glucuronopyranosyl-(6d1e)-β-D-glucuronopyranosyl -2b-(2'-hydroxy)- benzoate (proceralanostanolide C) (6) along with the known compounds n-tetradecanyl palmitoleate (1), α-amyrin acetate (2) and sucrose (5). The structures of all the isolated phytoconstituents have been established on the basis of spectral data analysis and chemical reactions.

Keywords: Calotropis procera, roots, triterpenic glycosides, fatty ester, ?-amyrin acetate, sucrose.