Separation and identification of four new compounds with antibacterial activity from Portulaca oleracea L.

Abstract

The Portulaca oleracea L. (P. oleracea) has been used to treat bacillary dysentery for thousands of years in China. Pharmacology studies on P. oleracea have also showed its significant antibacterial effects on the enteropathogenic bacteria, which might reveal the treatment of P. oleracea in cases of bacillary dysentery to some extent. To date, however, the therapeutic basis of P. oleracea treating on bacillary dysentery remains unknown. We determined the antibacterial effective fraction of P. oleracea in a previous study. The current study, which is based on our previous study, was first designed to isolate, identify and screen antibacterial active constituents from P. oleracea. As a result, four new compounds (1-4), portulacerebroside B (1), portulacerebroside C (2), portulacerebroside D (3) and portulaceramide A (4) along with five known compounds (5-9) were isolated, and structures were established by their physico-chemical constants and spectroscopic analysis. The antibacterial activities against common enteropathogenic bacteria were evaluated for all compounds and the new compounds 1-4 showed significant antibacterial effect on enteropathogenic bacteria in vitro, which might contribute to revealing the treatment of P. oleracea in cases of bacillary dysentery.