Triterpenoids and Indole Alkaloids from the Aerial Parts of Asystasia gangetica (L.) T. Anderson

Asystasia gangetica (L.) T. Anderson is an edible vegetable, cultivated in Vietnam. This plant was reported to contain a diverse chemical composition including megastimans, flavonoids, iridoids, and phenylpropanoid glycosides. It also exhibited many interesting biological activities such as antibacterial, antifungal, antihypertensive, anti-asthmatic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, tyrosinase inhibitory, antioxidant, and antidiabetic effects. However, so far, the studies on this species in Vietnam are relatively few. In this study, six compounds including lutein (1), verbascoside (2), indole-3-carboxylic acid (3), 3α,24-dihydroxy-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (4), ursolic acid (5), and pomolic acid (6) were isolated from the ethyl acetate fraction of the aerial parts of A. gangetica. Their structures were identified based on the NMR and MS spectroscopic data and comparison with those in the literature. Four compounds (3-6) have been isolated from this plant for the first time.