Chemical constituents from Salvia dichroantha

The genus Salvia, being the largest genus of Lamiaceae family, contains around 900 species worldwide. There are 90 Salvia species growing wild in Turkey half of which are endemic including S. dichroantha Stapf [1]. Some Salvia species are used as carminative, spasmolytic, diuretic, antiseptic as well as against cold and cough in Anatolian folk medicine [2]. The only phytochemical work on S. dichroantha which was conducted on the roots revealed the presence abietane-type diterpenes [3]. In the continuation of our work on the secondary metabolites of Lamiaceae, we herein report the isolation and structure elucidation of diverse compounds from the aerial part of title plant. Chromatographic studies on the H₂O and CHCl₃ subextracts of the MeOH extract led to the isolation of two megastigmane glycosides, premnaionoside (1), and salvionoside B (2), an aliphatic alcohol glycoside, (3R)-1-octen-3-ol-3-O-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1–6)-O-β-D-glucopyranoside (3), a flavonoid, 5-hydroxy-3,7,4'-trimethoxyflavone, two hydroxycinnamic acid derivatives, rosmarinic acid and 3-O-methyl-rosmarinic acid and sucrose. The structures of the compounds were established by means of 1D- and 2D-NMR experiments and MS. To the best of our knowledge, compound 1 is being reported for the first time from Lamiaceae, while compounds 1 and 3 are new for the genus Salvia. This work also constitutes the first phytochemical work on the aerial parts of S. dichroantha.

References: 1. Hedge IC (1982) Salvia L. In: Davis PH (ed.) Flora of Turkey and East Aegan Islands. Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh.

2. Baytop T (1999) Therapy with Medicinal Plants in Turkey, Nobel Tıp Kitapevleri, Istanbul.

3. Kawazoe K et al. (1999) Phytochemistry 50: 493–497.