Abstract
The stem bark of the holy tree Ficus religiosa L. (family: Moraceae) is traditionally prescribed to treat anxiety, hiccup, burns, scabies and skin diseases, vomiting, gastric ulcers, haemorrhoids, diarrhoea, dysentery, glandular swellings of the neck, gonorrhoea, urinogenital disorders, toothache and for strengthening the gums. Phytochemical investigation of a methanolic extract of the stem bark yielded a β-steryl naphthyl ester, characterized as naphthyl-1',3'-diol-1'-β-sitosteryl-3'-octadec-9′′, 12′′-dienoate (1) and two fatty acids identified as 2β,3β,4β,5β-tetrahydroxy-n-octanoic acid (2) and 2β,3β,4β,5β- tetrahydroxy-n-decanoic acid (3). The structure of isolated compounds was established on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR, FT-IR, UV, and MS data and chemical means. The finding enhance the phytochemical nature of F. religiosa. These new compounds have been isolated for the first time from this plant and may play an important role as chromatographic markers for standardization of crude bark and its marketed herbal formulations.
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