First isolation of stigmasterol from the indian medicinal plant Roscoea purpurea Sm. (Kakoli)

Abstract

Kakoli (Roscoea purpurea) is an important ingredient of Chyawanprash which is well known for its anti-ageing activities since the pre-historic period. While investigating the chemical constituents of Kakoli, herein we report the first isolation and spectroscopic characterization of a phytosterol stigmasterol 1 from the leaves of Roscoea purpurea. The molecule constitute a rigid 6-6-6-5 tetracyclic backbone with one secondary hydroxyl group attached at the 'A'-ring and one branched C10 hydrocarbon chain in the other end of the molecule. Energy minimized structure revealed that the molecule is 1.73 nm long having a polar 'OH' group attached at the end of an almost planar lipophilic steroidal skeleton making it useful as a functional nano-entity.