PHYTOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATIONS OF THE STEM BARK OF ACACIA NILOTICA (L.) DELILE, FRUITS OF CARISSA CARANDAS L. AND SEEDS OF WITHANIA SOMNIFERA (L.) DUNAL

Shahnaz Sultana, Mohammed Ali* and Showkat Rassol Mir

ABSTRACT

Acacia nilotica (L.) Delile (Leguminosae) is distributed in tropical Africa and Asia. Its bark is used to treat eye and skin diseases, coughs, cystitis, diarrhoea, dysentery, fever, bleeding gums, impotence, intestinal worms, leucorrhea, piles, sclerosis, scurvy, smallpox, syphilis, tuberculosis, mouth ulcers, vaginitis and wounds. Carissa carandas L. (Apocynaceae) is found in southern Asia and its fruits are used to treat acidity, biliousness, diabetes, indigestion, skin diseases, urinary disorders, wounds, to improve appetite and to strengthen the cardiac muscles. Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (Solanaceae) is distributed in India, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Baluchistan, Sind and the Mediterranean regions. The seeds are regarded as a diuretic and hypnotic and used for coagulating milk. Our study was planned to isolate chemical constituents from the stem bark of A. nilotica, fruits of C. carandas and seeds of W. somnifera and to characterize their structures on the basis of spectral data analysis and chemical reactions. Phytochemical investigation of the methanol extract of the stem bark of A. nilotica afforded four phytoconstituents identified as n-tridecanyl dotriacontanoate (n-tridecanyl lacceroate, 1), n-hexanyl O-β-D- glucuronopyranoside (n-hexanyl β-D-glucuronoside, 2), β-D-arabinopyranosyl-(4→1')-O-β-D-glucuronopyranoside (β-D-arabinoglucuronoside, 3) and β-D-glucuronopyranosyl-(4→1')-O-β-D-glucuronopyranoside (β-D-diglucuronoside, 4). The fruits of C. carandas gave a new tetracyclic triterpenic acid characterized as lanost-5-en-3α-ol 21-oic acid (3-epi-lanostenol 21-oic acid, 5). The seeds of W. somnifera afforded glyceryl-1-linoleio-2-arachidyl-3-docos-9′′′,12′′′-dienoate (6).

Keywords: Acacia nilotica, Carissa carandas, Withania somnifera, phytoconstituents, isolation, characterization.