The Mutagenic Constituents of Rubia tinctorum

Abstract

Twenty compounds were isolated from the roots of Rubia tinctorum which are used as a commercial source of madder color. Among these compounds, mollugin (1), l-hydroxy-2-methylanthraquinone (2), 2-ethoxymethylanthraquinone (11), rubiadin (13), 1,3-dihydroxy anthraqunone (14), 7-hydroxy-2-methylanthraquinone (16), lucidin (17), 1-methoxymethylanthraquinone (18) and lucidin-3-0-prime veroside (19) showed mutagenicity with Salmonella typhimurium TA 100 and/or TA 98. Since the muntagenic compounds isolated are anthraquinone derivatives with the exception of compound 1, structure-mutagenicity relationships of the anthraquinones were also studied. The results suggested that the greatest activity is exhibited by 1,3-dihydroxyanthraquinones possessing methyl or hydroxylmethyl group on carbon 2. © 1992, The Pharmaceutical Society of Japan. All rights reserved.