Planta Med 2010; 76 - P048
DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1264346

Three new medicagenic acid saponins from Polygala micrantha

T Tabopda Kuiate 1, A Mitaine-Offer 1, T Miyamoto 2, B Ngadjui Tchaleu 3, M Lacaille-Dubois 4
  • 1University of Burgundy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, EA 3660, 7, Bd Jeanne D'Arc, 21079 Dijon, France
  • 2Kyushu University, Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Maidashi Higashi Ku 3–1-1, 812–8582 Fukuoka, Japan
  • 3Université de Yaoundé 1, Département de chimie organique, BP 812, 3 Yaoundé, Cameroon
  • 4University of Burgundy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, EA 3660, Pharmacognosy, UMIB, EA 3660, 7, Bd Jeanne d'Arc, 21079 Dijon, France

The cosmopolitan Polygalaceae plant family, consists of approximately 1000 species distributed in 15 genera [1]. The genus includes herbaceous perennial plants, shrubs and small trees, and has a subcosmopolitan distribution. Polygala micrantha, a medicinal herbaceous plant, is said to be used as a purge in Cameroon. Polygala species have already been investigated, resulting in the isolation of presenegenin and medicagenic acid glycosides [2–3] but no previous phytochemical study has been undertaken on P. micrantha. Phytochemical investigation of the roots of P. micrantha yielded 9 triterpene saponins, including three new medicagenic acid saponins (1-3) and six known presenegenin saponins. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic 1D and 2D NMR analysis and by comparison of their NMR data with those of related compounds.

Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful to the Conseil Régional de Bourgogne, France for financial support.

References: 1. Lacaille-Dubois, M.A. et al. (2005) Phytochem. Rev. 4: 139–149.

2. Haddad, M. et al. (2003) Helv. Chim. Acta 86: 3055–3065.

3. Mitaine-Offer, A.C. et al. (2003) Helv. Chim. Acta 86: 2404–2413.

4. Teng, R.-W. et al. (2002) Magn. Reson. Chem. 40: 424–429.