Triterpenoids from Scorzonera veratrifolia Fenzl

Abstract

The genus Scorzonera (Asteraceae) has several species which are used as a vegetable and in folk medicine all around theworld. A phytochemical study was carried out on petroleum ether fraction of methanol extract obtained from the roots ofScorzonera veratrifolia Fenzl (Bitlis / Turkey) to investigate the terpenoid composition of the plant. Column chromatography,preparative thin layer chromatography and gas chromatography (GC) were used for separation of the compounds. Theirstructures were determined by using GC-MS and NMR techniques. Seventeen triterpenoids (ß-amyrin, ß-amyrin acetate,ß-amyrinone, germanicol, germanicol acetate, germanicone, α-amyrin, α-amyrin acetate, α-amyrinone, ψ – taraxasterol,ψ – taraxasterol acetate, taraxasterol, taraxasterol acetate, lupeol, lupeol acetate, lupenone, fern-7-en-3-one) and onesterol (ß-sitosterol) were determined. The presence of these compounds has been shown for the first time in S. veratrifolia.α-amyrinone, ß-amyrin, ß-amyrinone, ψ – taraxasterol and ψ – taraxasterol acetate are new for the genus Scorzonera.