Abstract
Leea asiatica (L.) Ridsdale (Leeaceae) is found in tropical and subtropical countries and has historically been used as a traditional medicine in local healthcare systems. Although L. asiatica extracts have been found to possess anthelmintic and antioxidant-related nephroprotective and hepatoprotective effects, little attention has been paid toward the investigation of phytochemical constituents of this plant. In the current study, phytochemical analysis of isolates from L. asiatica led to the identification of 24 compounds, including a novel phenolic glucoside, seven triterpenoids, eight flavonoids, two phenolic glycosides, four diglycosidic compounds, and two miscellaneous compounds. The phytochemical structures of the isolates from L. asiatica were elucidated using spectroscopic analyses including 1D- and 2D-NMR and ESI-Q-TOF-MS. The presence of triterpenoids and flavonoids supports the evidence for anthelmintic and antioxidative effects of L. asiatica.
Highlights
Plant species of the genus Leeaceae (Leea) are widely distributed among tropical and subtropical regions, including Eastern Africa, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand [1,2]
Around 70 different species of the genus Leea (L.) are found in these regions, with some being used in local traditional healthcare systems to treat bone fractures, liver disorders, physical wounds, skin diseases, and worm infections [1]
Several phytochemicals, including coumarin, essential oils, flavonoids, hydrocarbons, and triterpenoids have been determined from the extracts of diverse Leea species, such as L. thorelii [1,3], L. indica [4,5,6,7,8,9], L. macrophylla [10,11], and L. guineense [12,13]
Summary
Plant species of the genus Leeaceae (Leea) are widely distributed among tropical and subtropical regions, including Eastern Africa, Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, and Thailand [1,2]. Leea asiatica has been used as a folk medicine, especially in India, to treat worm infection, bone fracture, liver disorder, and oxidative stress-related diseases. Three published reports have described the biological effects of L. asiatica extracts, including anthelmintic and antioxidant-related nephroprotective and hepatoprotective activities [14,15,16], and no phytochemical study on this species has been attempted yet even though L. asiatica has been used as a traditional medicine, as have other Leea species. The identification of the phytochemicals of herbal medicine is very important because it can be used as a primary data for the prediction of biological effects, safety information, and clarification of medicinal use From this point of view, the current study was designed to identify chemical constituents of L. asiatica and to provide their spectroscopic information. Molecules 2019, 24, x with seven triterpenoids (2–8), eight flavonoids (9–16), two phenolic gluocosides (17–18), four diglycosidic compounds (19–22), and two miscellaneous compounds (23–24) (Figure 1)
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