Phytochemical constituents of arthrocnemum glaucum [del.] and their biological activities

ABSTRACT

The lipid contents of Arthrocnemum glaucum Del. grown in Egypt were studied. The unsaponifiable fraction was identified by GLC. A series of hydrocarbons ranging from C[12]-C[20] in addition to cholesterol, p-sitosterol and the triterpenoid p-amyrin were identified. GLC analysis of the fatty alcohol fraction revealed the presence of 5 components in which hexacosanol was found to be the major component, also GLC analysis of the fatty acids methyl esters revealed the presence of 10 fatty acids. The flavonoidal constituents were identified as apigenin, isorhamnetin, isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside, chrysoeriol and ferulic acid using PC, TLC, UV, MS and FAB-MS. The crude protein of the plant was found to be 15.1%. The analysis of amino acids using the amino acid analyzer revealed the presence of 18 amino acids. The mucilage hydrolysate of the aerial parts of A. glaucum was found to contain arabinose, xylose, mannose, glucuronic acid and galactose using PC. The ethyl acetate fraction showed high antimicrobial activity against gram -ve, gram +ve bacteria, yeast and fungi, while the chloroform fraction showed moderate activity against gram -ve bacteria and yeast. On the other hand fatty acid and fatty alcohol mixtures showed high antimicrobial activity, also isorhamnetin-3-O-glucoside and chrysoeriol showed significant activity against gram -ve bacteria