Phytochemical Investigation of Andrographis paniculata

Andrographis paniculata Nees (Acanthaceae) is an important medicinal plant in Ayurvedic and indigenous medical systems in Sri Lanka, India and China. This bitter herbaceous plant is distributed in Sri Lanka, India, Java, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Niranjan, Tewari, and Lehri [1] recently summarized the botanical description, traditionally used plant parts, agronomic techniques for mass production of active principals, extraction and analytical techniques, ethnopharmacology, pharmacology, and chemical constituents of this plant. A new rare flavone glucoside, andrographidine G (1), featuring hydroxy and glucoxyloxy groups at C-2' and C-5, respectively, was isolated from Andrographis paniculata together with 13 known compounds, including flavonoids, diterpenoids, and iridoids. The structure of 1 was established by spectroscopic techniques including HRTOFESI-MS, 1D and 2D NMR, and chemical methods. The known compounds were identified as andrographidine A, 5-hydroxy-7,8-dimethoxy-(2R)-flavanone-5-O-β-D-glucopyranoside, acanthoside B, neoandrographiside, andropanoside, andrographiside, andrographolide, 14-deeoxy-11,12-didehydroandrographiside, 14-deoxy-11,12-didehydroandrographolide, procumbide, procumboside, 6-epi-8-O-acetylharpagide, and curvifloruside F.

Acknowledgements: This research work was partly supported by The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Specific Cooperative Research Agreement Number 5U01FD004246 and The National Center for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (NCAS), Sri Lanka. The authors are thankful to Dr. Bharathi Avula for mass analysis. References: [1] Subramanian R, Zaini AM, Sadikun A (2012) Phytochem Rev, 11: 39 – 75.