Homoisoflavonoids from Eucomis bicolour, Eucomis autumnalis and Scilla peruviana (Asparagaceae)

Natural products chemistry involves the extraction of potentially active compounds from plants. A class of these active compounds is called homoisoflavonoids and they are frequently extracted from the Asparagaceae family. They are regarded as hopeful pharmacological candidates due to their anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial and antioxidant effects. Due to their anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory activity, these plants are often used in traditional medicine, particularly in their native home of South Africa [1]. In addition, homoisoflavonoids have been shown to exhibit antiangiogenic activity, reducing the excessive formation of blood vessels. Several homoisoflavonoids have been investigated as prospective treatments for various major causes of blindness: proliferative diabetic retinopathy, retinopathy of prematurity and wet age-related macular degeneration. These are all characterised by abnormal blood vessel growth at the back of the eye.

Various homoisoflavonoids have been investigated previously for their antiangiogenic activity [2] and it has been determined that the stereochemistry of the chiral centre (C-3) in the homoisoflavonoids affects the activity.

Three plants from the Asparagaceae family were investigated: Eucomis bicolour, Eucomis autumnalis and Scilla peruviana. The bulbs of each of the plants were extracted using dichloromethane and methanol. These extracts were separated using gravity column and medium pressure flash chromatography to obtain pure compounds. Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was used in order to elucidate the structure of the compounds [3].

Homoisoflavonoids were isolated from each of the plant species and identified. These homoisoflavonoid will be screened for their anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic activity.

Fig. 1 Two homoisoflavonoids from Scilla peruviana (left) and Eucomis autumnalis (right).

Publikationsverlauf

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
12. Dezember 2022

• References

• 1 Alaribe FN, Maepa MJ, Mkhumbeni N, Motaung SCKM. Trop J Pharm Res. 2018;
• 2 Schwikkard S, Whitmore H, Sishtla K. et al. . J Nat Prod 2019;
• 3 Mullholland DA, Schwikkard SL, Crouch NR. Nat Prod Rep. 2013;