Isolation of erythrinan alkaloids from the leaves and flowers of Erythrina speciosa

Abstract

In this paper, we describe the extraction of three alkaloids from the leaves and flowers of Erythrina speciosa, a plant documented in the literature to possess a range of potential medicinal applications. Two alkaloids were isolated from both leaves and flowers, with erythrartine being isolated from both plant parts. In agreement with the literature, we also isolated erysotrine from the flowers. The second alkaloid isolated from the leaves, and reported in this species for the first time, was (+)-11β-hydroxyerysotramidine.