Characterization of Chemical Constituents of &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;Luffa operculata&amp;lt;/i&amp;gt;(Cucurbitaceae)

Cléia Rocha De Sousa Feitosa,Sônia Maria Costa Siqueira,Francisco José Queiroz Monte,Raimundo Braz-Filho,Robério Costa Da Silva,Jane Eire Silva Alencar De Menezes

doi:10.4236/ajac.2011.28116

Abstract

A mixture of new ceramides (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) together with a binary mixture of ceramides with long chain alkyl (6 and 7), triterpenoid (10) and steroids (11 and 12) have been isolated from bark of the fruits and of the stems of Luffa operculata (Cucurbitaceae). The structures were elucidated by comprehensive spectro- scopic analysis including 1H and 13C NMR, DEPT (distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer), COSY (correlated spectroscopy), HMQC (heteronuclear multiple quantum coherence), HMBC (heteronu- clear multiple bond connectivity), IR (infrared), HR-ESI-MS (electrospray ionization-high resolution mass spectra) and LR-MS (low resolution electron ionization mass spectra) experiments. All the ceramides are reported for the first time in Cucurbitaceae and this is the first report of the rare triterpene 10 isolated from Luffa operculata. The ceramides 6 and 7 showed a high acetylcholine esterase inhibitory effect.

Highlights

As a part of our continuing chemical studies on plants of Cucurbitaceae family, we have investigated the bark of the fruits and the stems of Luffa operculata specie
All the ceramides are reported for the first time in Cucurbitaceae and this is the first report of the rare triterpene 10 isolated from Luffa operculata
In this work we report an evaluation of the cholinesterase inhibition effect of the ceramides 6 and 7 following the methodology of Elmann, adapted by Rhee [5] for the layer chromatography (TLC)

Summary

Introduction

As a part of our continuing chemical studies on plants of Cucurbitaceae family, we have investigated the bark of the fruits and the stems of Luffa operculata specie. In the previous paper [2], we reported the isolation and structure elucidation of triperpenes cucurbitane type from these fruits. We report the isolation and structure elucidation of ceramides (1-5, 6 and 7), triterpene oleanane type (10) and steroids (11 and 12) from the bark of the fruits and stems of this plant. Recent studies indicate that ceramides may be involved in signal transduction, membrane stability, host-pathogen interactions, and stress responses [3].The compound 6 and 7, as well as the steroids mixture (12), showed an acetylcholine esterase inhibitory effect. In this work we report an evaluation of the cholinesterase inhibition effect of the ceramides 6 and 7 following the methodology of Elmann, adapted by Rhee [5] for the layer chromatography (TLC)

Methods

Results

Conclusion