Constituents of bulbs of three species of the hyacinthaceae (hyacinthoideae): Eucomis vandermerwei, E. zambesiaca and resnova humifusa

Abstract

Phytochemical analyses of the bulbs of Eucomis vandermerwei and E. zambesiaca yielded homoisoflavonoids and triterpenoid derivatives. A new (17S∗,23S∗)-epoxy-3β,15β,29-trihydroxy-27-norlanost-8-en-24-one) was isolated from E. zambesiaca. Resnova humifusa yielded homoisoflavonoids, and a tetrahydropyran derivative, 2-methyl-3-(4S∗,5R∗,7S∗-trihydroxy-8S∗-hydroxymethyltetrahydro-6H-4-pyranyl)-2-propenoic acid. All compounds were assayed for COX-2 inhibition of cyclooxygenase; 3,5,7-trihydroxy-3-(4'-methoxybenzyl)-4-chromanone was found to have significant activity.