Phytochemical constituents of the roots of Heliotropium verdcourtii (Boraginaceae)

The medicinal value of medicinal plants lies in some bioactive constituents that produce a definite physiological action on the human body. Heliotropium verdcourtii is a deciduous shrub or small tree traditionally used in the treatment of various diseases including fever, dry cough, measles, convulsions, epilepsy, diarrhea, and other ailments. The chemical constituents of the roots of the plant were not investigated to date. The aim of the study was to investigate the phytochemicals present in the roots of Heliotropium verdcourtii. The freshly collected root of the plant was chopped and air dried under shade. The dried and finely grounded plant root was extracted through maceration with n-hexane, chloroform/methanol (v/v 1:1), and methanol successively. The extracts were subjected to qualitative phytochemical tests for screening the classes of secondary metabolites present in the plant. Compound isolation of the chloroform/methanol (v/v 1:1) extract was performed through silica gel chromatographic separation. The structures of all isolated compounds were determined by spectroscopic methods as well as comparison with previous reports in the literature. The yields of n-hexane, chloroform/methanol (v/v 1:1), and methanol extracts were 2.2 g (0.4%), 25 g (5.0%), and 19.8 g (4.0%), respectively. The qualitative phytochemical test of the extracts revealed the presence of flavonoids, terpenoids, phenolics, saponins, glycosides and alkaloids. Silica gel chromatographic separation afforded a mixture of three isomeric triterpenoids identified as α-amyrin, β-amyrin, and bauerenol. To the best of our knowledge these bioactive compounds were isolated from the root of this plant, for the first time.