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Metabolite profiling and isolation of biologically active compounds from Scadoxus puniceus , a highly traded South African medicinal plant
Author(s) -
Naidoo Devashan,
Slavětínská Lenka Poštová,
Aremu Adeyemi O.,
Gruz Jiri,
Biba Ondrej,
Doležal Karel,
Van Staden Johannes,
Finnie Jeffrey F.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
phytotherapy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.019
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1099-1573
pISSN - 0951-418X
DOI - 10.1002/ptr.6000
Subject(s) - chemistry , chlorogenic acid , metolachlor , hydroxycinnamic acid , metabolite , hydroxybenzoic acid , amaryllidaceae , chromatography , gallic acid , organic chemistry , botany , pesticide , antioxidant , biology , biochemistry , atrazine , agronomy
Scadoxus puniceus (Amaryllidaceae), a medicinal plant of high value in South Africa, is used as a component of a traditional herbal tonic prescribed to treat several ailments. Ultra‐high performance liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry quantified the phenolic compounds in different organs of S . puniceus . Gravity column chromatography was used to separate fractions and active compounds. The structure of these compounds was determined using 1D and 2D nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopic techniques. A microplate technique was used to determine the acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity of the pure compounds. Metabolite profiling revealed a greater profusion of hydroxycinnamic acids (69.5%), as opposed to hydroxybenzoic acids (30.5%). Chlorogenic acid was the most abundant (49.6% of hydroxycinnamic acids) compound. In addition to chlorogenic acid, the study is the first to report the presence of sinapic, gallic, and m ‐hydroxybenzoic acids in the Amaryllidaceae. Chromatographic separation of S . puniceus led to the isolation of haemanthamine ( 1 ), haemanthidine ( 2 ), and a rare chlorinated amide, metolachlor ( 3 ), the natural occurrence of which is described for the first time. Haemanthamine, haemanthidine, and metolachlor displayed strong acetylcholinesterase inhibitory activity (IC 50 ; 23.1, 23.7, and 11.5 μM, respectively). These results substantiate the frequent use of S . puniceus as a medicinal plant and hold much promise for further pharmaceutical development.