Flavonoids from stem bark of akway (Drymis beccariana Gibs) and theirs antimalarial properties

Abstract

Akway (Drimys beccariana, Gibbs) is a plant endemic to Papua highlands contained in Manokwari. D. beccariana is used for traditional malaria treatment in West Papua. The methanol extract of stem bark of D. beccariana showed antimalarial activity against Plasmodium falciparum parasites, in vitro. Methanol extract of D. beccariana is partitioned between water and n-hexane (1:9), and ethyl acetate. Furthermore, ethyl acetate extract was separated through several combination of chromatography techniques on silica gel, resulting in three known compounds (1-3). The chemical structures of compounds (1-3) were identified based on IR, UV/Vis, 1H NMR and 13C NMR, and MS data as 5,3'-dihydroxy-7,4'-dimethoxyflavone (1), 5,7-dihydroxy-4'-methoxyflavone (2), and 5-hydroxy-7,3',4'-trimethoxyflavone (3). Compounds 1-3 showed strong antiplasmodium against 3D7 strain of P. falciparum with IC50 values of 0.002, 0.005, and 0.001 micro Molar, respectively. This result indicates that stem bark of D. beccariana is a promising source of antimalarial agents, and merits further investigation.