Bioactive constituents from the traditional Kurdish plant Iris persica

Abstract

In the first phytochemical investigation of non-volatile secondary metabolites from the Kurdish traditional plant Iris persica L, (-)-embinin was isolated from flowers and leaves, isovitexin from flowers, trans-resveratrol-3-O-β-D-glucopyranoside from rhizomes and tectorigenin from bulbs. The complete NMR spectra of embinin are reported for the first time. In an MTT assay, embinin showed an inhibition activity higher than the well-known antitumor drug cisplatin against five of the six tested human tumor cells. Moreover, embinin showed a significant DPPH radical scavenging activity (IC50 value of 112.16) comparable to the reference antioxidant ascorbic acid. The remarkable biological activities exhibited by the extracts of Iris persica and isolated compounds have validated the uses of I. persica in the traditional medicine of Kurdistan.