STUDY ON ISOLATION OF SAPONINS FROM THE ROOTS OF WEIGELA FLORIDA “JEAN’S GOLD”

Abstract

The Weigela genus, thus Caprifoliaceae, has a wide distribution in the world including over 200 species cultivated for ornamental and medicinal properties. W. florida “Jean’s Gold” is a shrub used as outdoor for ornamental purposes because of beautiful flowering,  lovely attractive foliage and easy to grow. Two triterpenoid saponins were isolated from the ethanolic-aqueous extract from the roots of W. florida “Jean’s Gold” by chromatographic methods. Their structures were determined by using 1D and 2D NMR, and mass spectrometry (HR-ESI-MS in positive mode) as Olean-12-en-28-oic acid, 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1®2)-[β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1®4)]-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1®4)-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1®3)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1®2)-β-D-arabinopyranosyloleanolic acid (1), and 3-O-β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1®2)-[β-D-glucopyranosyl-(1®4)]-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1®4)-β-D-xylopyranosyl-(1®3)-α-L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1®2)-β-D-xylopyranosyloleanolic acid (2). Further experiments should be done in order to achieve a biological overview and establish the relationship between structure and activity of these compounds.