?CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF CAESALPINIA BONDUC
Keywords:
Caesalpinia bonduc, Triterpenoids,Abstract
The seeds of Caesalpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb. belonging to
the family Caesalpiniaceae were used as a folk medicine to
treat asthma and chronic fever. They were found to be very
potent as an antiperiodic, antipyretic and utilized as febrifuge,
antispasmodic, antirheumatic and mild purgative [1-2]. Lit-
erature survey revealed the presence of diterpenoids such as
o-caesalpin [3-4], ~-caesalpin [3,4], o-caesalpin [4,5], y-
caesalpin [3-6] and e-caesalpin [7] from the seeds of Cae-
salpinia bonduc (L.) Roxb. [syn. C.bonducella (L.) Fleming].
Our phytochemical investigations have led to the isolation of
four triterpenoids e-amyrin [12~ursen-3~-01] (I), ~-amyrin
[12-0Ieanen-3~-01] (2),lup-20(29)-en-3~-01 (3), lup-20(29)-
en-3~-yl acetate (4), and two sterols ~-sitosterol [24(R)-
stigmast-f-en-Sjl-ol] (5), ~-sitosteryl galactoside [3-0-~-D-
galactopyranosy l-stigmasta-5-ene] (6).