From the ethyl acetate extract of the rhizomes from Belamcanda chinensis (Iridaceae) five compounds irisflorentin (1), tectorigenin (2), iristectorigenin A (3), irigenin (4), and acetovanillone(5) were isolated. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. This is first report of 5 from B. chinensis. | Journal of Chemistry, Vol. 47 (5), P. 623 - 627, 2009 CHEMICAL CONSTITUENTS OF BELAMCANDA CHINENSIS (L.) DC Received 10 February 2009 1 LE MINH HA , PHAN VAN KIEM1, NATALYA KHRIPACH2 1 Institute of Natural Products Chemistry, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology 2 Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry, National Academy of Science of Belarus ABSTRACT From the ethyl acetate extract of the rhizomes from Belamcanda chinensis (Iridaceae) five compounds irisflorentin (1), tectorigenin (2), iristectorigenin A (3), irigenin (4), and acetovanillone(5) were isolated. Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic methods. This is first report of 5 from B. chinensis. Keywords: Belamcanda chinensis, Iridaceae, acetovanillone. I - INTRODUCTION Belamcanda chinensis (L.) DC., is a perennial shrub belonging to Iridaceae family. It is widely distributed in the cold and wet hillsides in Vietnam and in most parts of China, Korea, Japan, India, and eastern of Russia. The dried rhizomes have been used in Vietnamese traditional and folk medicine as an antiinflammatory, antitussive, and expectorant agent as well as against throat trouble [1]. In China, it is an important traditional medicine used to treat swelling and pain in the throat, cough and so on. Previous phytochemical study on this plant led to the iridal-type triterpenoids and isoflavonoids in the rhizomes, and phenol, benzoquinones and benzofurans in the seed [2, 3]. In our study, the ethyl acetate extract of the rhizomes of B. chinensis exhibited the cytotoxic activity against the hepatonema carcinoma cell line (Hep-G2) with the IC50 value of and antimicrobial activity against Staphylococus aureus with the MIC value of 100 μg/ml. Further study on chemical constituents of this extract led to the isolation of irisflorentin (1), tectorigenin (2), iristectorigenin A (3), irigenin (4), and acetovanillone (5). II - MATERIALS AND METHODS 1. Plant material The rhizomes of B. chinensis was collected in Tamdao .
