Graptophyllum pictum is a tropical plant noticeable for its variegated leaves and exploited for various medicinal purposes. In this study, seven compounds, including three furanolabdane diterpenoids, i.e., Hypopurin E, Hypopurin A and Hypopurin B, as well as with Lupeol, β-sitosterol 3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside, stigmasterol 3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside and a mixture of β-sitosterol and stigmasterol, were isolated from G. pictum, and their structures were deduced from ESI-TOF-MS, HR-ESI-TOF-MS, 1D and 2D NMR experiments. The compounds were evaluated for their anticholinesterase activities against acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and butyrylcholinesterase (BchE), as well as their antidiabetic potential through inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase. For AChE inhibition, no sample had IC50 within tested concentrations, though the most potent was Hypopurin A, which had a percentage inhibition of 40.18 ± 0.75%, compared to 85.91 ± 0.58% for galantamine, at 100 µg/mL. BChE was more susceptible to the leaves extract (IC₅₀ = 58.21 ± 0.65 µg/mL), stem extract (IC₅₀ = 67.05 ± 0.82 µg/mL), Hypopurin A (IC₅₀ = 58.00 ± 0.90 µg/mL), Hypopurin B (IC₅₀ = 67.05 ± 0.92 µg/mL) and Hypopurin E (IC₅₀ = 86.90 ± 0.76 µg/mL). In the antidiabetic assay, the furanolabdane diterpenoids, lupeol and the extracts had moderate to good activities. Against α-glucosidase, lupeol, Hypopurin E, Hypopurin A and Hypopurin B had appreciable activities but the leaves (IC₅₀ = 48.90 ± 0.17 µg/mL) and stem (IC₅₀ = 45.61 ± 0.56 µg/mL) extracts were more active than the pure compounds. In the α-amylase assay, stem extract (IC₅₀ = 64.47 ± 0.78 µg/mL), Hypopurin A (IC₅₀ = 60.68 ± 0.55 µg/mL) and Hypopurin B (IC₅₀ = 69.51 ± 1.30 µg/mL) had moderate activities compared to the standard acarbose (IC₅₀ = 32.25 ± 0.36 µg/mL). Molecular docking was performed to determine the binding modes and free binding energies of Hypopurin E, Hypopurin A and Hypopurin B in relation to the enzymes and decipher the structure–activity relationship. The results indicated that G. pictum and its compounds could, in general, be used in the development of therapies for Alzheimer’s disease and diabetes.

Context: Millettia barteri (Benth.) Dunn (Fabaceae) is an African medicinal plant used in folk medicine to treat many diseases. This species, as well as other Mellettia species, has been of interest to researchers because of their wide range of traditional uses. Objective: Phytochemical, antimicrobial and 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl-hydrate (DPPH)-radical scavenging investigations of the hexane and EtOAc extracts of the stem bark of M. barteri were carried out here for the first time. Materials and methods: The isolation of compounds was done through silica gel column chromatography and their structures were established using spectroscopic analysis, especially, 1D NMR in conjunction with 2D experiments (COSY, HMQC and HMBC), and physical data compared with literature values. The broth micro dilution method was used for antimicrobial test while DPPH radical scavenging assay was used for antioxidant test. Results: Seven compounds, including two guanidine alkaloids: millaurine (2) and milletonine (7); one flavonoid: afzelin (6); four sterols: β-sitosterol (1), β-sitosterol glucoside (3), mixture of stigmasterol (4) and β-sitosterol (5) palmitates have been isolated from stem bark of hexane and ethyl acetate extracts of M. barteri. These extracts showed antimicrobial activity on the set of germs tested with minimum inhibitory concentration values varying from 64 to 512 µg/mL, as well as antioxidant activity (IC₅₀ 62.74 and 77.23 µg/mL). Compounds 2 and 7, tested for the first time, demonstrated antimicrobial and antioxidant activities. Discussion and conclusions: The present study clearly demonstrated that M. barteri and some of its isolates possess antimicrobial and antioxidant properties and may act as potential antioxidant for biological systems susceptible to free radical-mediated reactions.

The present work describes the isolation and anticancer activity of Tapinanthus sp. which is a hemi parasitic plant harvested on Combretum glutinosum, the host plant. Phytochemical study afforded a new flavonoid glycoside, tapinantoside (1) isolated for the first time from natural source, alongside six known compounds (2-7). Structure of compounds were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses including 1 D and 2 D NMR, mass spectrometry and by comparison with literature data. The anticancer activity of extract and some isolated compounds were evaluated on glioblastoma (U87MG, C6) and prostate (PC-3) cancer cells. The methanol leaves extract showed good anticancer activity against U87 (IC₅₀ = 21.40 µg/mL) and PC-3 cells (IC₅₀ = 10.26 µg/mL). Compound 3 powerfully inhibits the proliferation of C6 (IC₅₀ = 38.84 µM) and PC-3 cells (IC₅₀ = 21.33 µM), while its effect was moderated on U87MG cells. Compound 1 and 7 were not active on all tested cancer cell lines. Graphical Abstract

Chemical investigation of Cordia millenii, Baker resulted in the isolation of a new depsidone, cordidepsine (1), along with twelve known compounds including cyclooctasulfur (2), lup-20(29)-en-3-triacontanoate (3), 1-(26-hydroxyhexacosanoyl)glycerol (4), glyceryl-1-hexacosanoate (5) betulinic acid (6), lupenone (7), β-amyrone (8), lupeol (9), β-amyrin (10), allantoin (11), 2′-(4-hydroxyphenyl)ethylpropanoate (12) and stigmasterol glycoside (13). Hemi-synthetic reactions were carried out on two isolated compounds (5 and 6) to afford two new derivatives, that is, cordicerol A (14) and cordicerol B (15), respectively. The chemical structures of all the compounds were established based on analysis and interpretation of spectroscopic data such as electron ionization mass spectrometry (EI–MS), high resolution electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (HR-ESI–MS), fast atom bombardment mass spectrometry (FAB–MS), one dimension and two dimension nuclear magnetic resonance (1D and 2D-NMR) spectral data as well as X-ray crystallography (XRC). Lupeol ester derivatives [Lup-20(29)-en-3-triacontanoate (3)], monoglycerol derivatives [1-(26-hydroxyhexacosanoyl)glycerol (4) and glyceryl-1 hexacosanoate (5)] were isolated for the first time from Cordia genus while sulfur allotrope [cyclooctasulfur (2)] was isolated for the first time from plant origin. Biological assays cordidepsine (1) exhibited significant anti-HIV integrase activity with IC₅₀ = 4.65 μM; EtOAc extract of stem barks, EtOAc fraction of roots and leaves were not toxic against 3T3 cells.

A phytochemical study was carried out on stem bark of Combretum fragrans F. Hoffm., a medicinal plant belonging to the Combretaceae family and used traditionally in the treatment of various ailments. Column chromatography separation on silica gel of the crude methanol extract from stem barks of C. fragrans led to the isolation of a new pentacyclic triterpene acid, with a 3,6-epoxide bridge and trivially named as fragransinic acid (1), along with four known compounds: betulin (2), betulinic acid (3), bellericagenin B (4) and a mixture of β-sitosterol (5) and stigmasterol (6). Structures were elucidated by extensive spectroscopic analyses including 1D and 2D NMR, mass spectrometry as well as by comparison with literature data. The above compounds were isolated for the first time from C. adenogonium. Implications for chemosystematics and traditional medicine were briefly discussed. Graphical Abstract

Two new compounds, an isoquinoline (1) and caloneuramide (2), a ceramide were isolated from the stem bark of Discoglypremna caloneura together with seven known compounds namely aurantiamide acetate (3), acetylaleuritolic acid (4), 3α-hydroxylaleuritolic acid 2α-p-hydroxybenzoate (5), mixture of stigmasterol (6) and β-sitosterol (7), mixture of 7-oxo-stigmasterol (8) and 7-oxo-β-sitosterol (9). Their structures were determined based on data from literature and spectroscopic methods. Derivatization reactions on the isoquinoline led to two new compounds, the methylated (10) and acetylated (11) derivatives. Some compounds and extracts were evaluated for their cytotoxic and antiproteinase activity. Antiproteinase effect of compounds 1, 10 and 11 exhibited IC₅₀ values of 10.77, 1.19 and 3.61 μg/mL respectively; significantly low compared to the standard drug, acetyl salicylic acid (IC₅₀ = 20.28 μg/mL). Ethyl acetate and methanol extract exhibited moderate cytotoxicity activity on Chang liver cells with CC₅₀ values of 167.90 ± 2.20 and 106.30 ± 2.03 μg/mL compared to the reference drug cucurmin (CC₅₀ = 11.05 ± 1.04 μg/mL). Graphical Abstract