Isolation and Structural Characterization of Compounds from Blumea lacera

The genus Blumea, belonging to the family Asteraceae, comprises 80 species of small annual weeds.The plants of this genus are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical Asia, Africa, and Oceania.The plants of this genus are mostly small annual weeds and are of great medicinal value.Some of these species are used as folk medicines for treating colds, fevers, blood diseases, dysentery, gynecological diseases. 1,2These have provided a variety of constituents, including flavonoids, monoterpenes, sesquiterpenes, acetylenic thiophenes, triterpenoids, xanthenes, diterpenes, and essential oils. 1 Blumea lacera (Burn.f.) DC, a herbaceous weed named "Cai troi" in Vietnam, is mainly distributed in Lao Cai, Vinh Phuc and Ha Giang provinces in Vietnam. 3 It is also commonly found in China, India, Bangladesh, Australia and tropical Africa. 4The plant has long been used in traditional medicine as expectorant, diuretic, astringent, antispasmodic, antipyretic, antioxidant, antidiarrheal, liver tonic and stimulant. 5,6Previous biological studies have shown that extracts of B. lacera exhibit antiviral, 7 anti-leukemic 7 , antiulcer 6 and cytotoxic activities against several human cancer cell lines. 8,9In addition, it has been reported that essential oil from this herb exhibit analgesic, hypothermic, and tranquilizing activities and cytotoxic activities against breast cancer cells and healing cuts. 6,10][10][11][12][13][14] To increase the value of this herb in terms of its potential application for medicinal purposes, it was considered necessary to investigate its chemical constituents and to understand their biological properties. MATERIALS AND METHODS General experimental procedureThe NMR spectra were measured using a Varian Unity-Inova 400 MHz spectrometer.The solvents used for extraction and isolation were of analytical grade solvents.Silica gel (63-200 mm; Merck, Darmstadt, Germany) and RP-18 (75 mm; Merck) were used for column chromatography.Thin layer chromatography was carried out on pre-coated silica gel 60 F254 plates and RP-18 F254 plates (both from Merck) and the plates were visualized by spraying with 10% H 2 SO 4 /EtOH solution followed by warming.