PHYTOCHEMICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE FRUITS OF COCCINIA INDICA AND LEAVES OF TRICHODESMA INDICUM

Showkat Rassol Mir, Mohammed Ali*, Vidhu Aeri and Ujjwal Kaushik

ABSTRACT

Coccinia indica Wight et Arn. (family Cucurbitaceae) is a dioecious, perennial climber with ovoid-oblong, fleshy fruits. Its fruits are edible, used to treat abscesses, asthma, bronchitis, diabetes, fever, hypertension, jaundice, leprosy and tongue sores. Trichodesma indicum (L.) Lehm. (family Boraginaceae) is an erect, spreading, branched, annual plant. Its leaves are utilized as a diuretic and to relieve anorexia, arthritis, bleeding, cuts, dysentery, skin diseases, snake bites, stomach disorders, toxicity, urinary diseases and wounds. Our study was planned to isolate chemical constituents from the fruits of C. indica and leaves of T. indicum and to characterize their structures. Phytochemical investigation of a methanolic extract of the fruits of C. grandis afforded two new fatty acid glucosides identified as (Z)-docos-13-enoyl O-α-D-glucopyranoside (erucicyl-O-α-D-glucoside, 1) and n-docosanoyl O-α-D-glucopyranoside (behenyl-O-α-D-glucoside, 2) and two steroidal glucosides, viz., β-sitosterol 3-O-α-D-glucopyranoside (3) and β-sitosterol 3-O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-((6'→1'')-O-α-D-glucopyranosyl-(6''→1''')- O-α-D-glucopyranoside (β-sitosterol α-D-triglucoside, 4). The leaf methanolic extract of T. indicum furnished three fatty acid esters characterized as n-pentadecanyl octadec-9-enoate (n-pentadecanyl oleate, 5), 1-nonacosanolyl (9Z)-octadecenoate (n-nonacosanyl oleate, 7) and n-triacontanyl octadec-9-enoate (n-triacontanyl oleate, 8) and a higher aliphatic carboxylic acid, viz., n-dotriacont- 5(Z),18(Z)-dienoic acid (6). The structures of all these compounds have been established on the basis of spectral data analyses and chemical reactions.

Keywords: Coccinia indica fruits, Trichodesma indicum leaves, phytoconstituents, isolation, characterization.