Isolation of antioxidant compounds from the methanolic extract of the roots of Decalepis hamiltonii (Wight and Arn.).

The tuberous roots of Decalepis hamiltonii are consumed as pickles and beverages and are believed to possess health-promoting properties. We have investigated the antioxidant potential of the roots. The methanolic extract of the root showed a high antioxidant activity. The methanolic extract was fractionated on a silica gel column, which showed three major fractions with good antioxidant activity. The active fractions were further subjected to preparative thin layer and silica gel column chromatography, which yielded six pure compounds. The purified compounds were characterized by MS, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, and two-dimensional NMR spectroscopic techniques and identified as 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, p-anisaldehyde, vanillin, borneol, salicylaldehyde, and bis-2,3,4,6-galloyl-alpha/beta-D-glucopyranoside. The latter compound, named decalepin, is a new antioxidant molecule from the plant kingdom. The purified compounds showed antioxidant activities in in vitro assays such as inhibition of lipid peroxidation, hydroxyl radical, superoxide anion, and 1,1-diphenyl-2picrylhydrazyl radical scavenging. This is the first report of the antioxidant constituents of the roots of Decalepis hamiltonii.