IntroductionThe inflorescences of Tilia americana var. mexicana are used as an infusion in Mexican traditional medicine due to their tranquilizing effects; however, pharmacological and phytochemical studies of the leaves are lacking.
Tabernaemontana alba and Tabernaemontana arborea are Apocynaceae species used in Mexican traditional medicine for which little phytochemical information exists. In this study, preliminary gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses of different organs obtained from wild plants of both species identified a total of 10 monoterpenoid indole alkaloids (MIAs) and one simple indole alkaloid, nine of which were reported for the first time in these species. Furthermore, callus cultures were established from T. alba leaf explants and regeneration of whole plants was accomplished via somatic embryogenesis. The anti-addictive MIAs ibogaine and voacangine were then quantified by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection in wild plants of both species, as well as greenhouse-grown plants, in vitro-grown plantlets and embryogenic callus of T. alba. Ibogaine and voacangine were present in most samples taken from the whole plants of both species, with stem and root barks showing the highest concentrations. No alkaloids were detected in callus samples. It was concluded that T. alba and T. arborea are potentially viable sources of ibogaine and voacangine, and that these MIAs can be produced through somatic embryogenesis and whole plant regeneration of T. alba. Approaches to increase MIA yields in whole plants and to achieve alkaloid production directly in cell cultures are discussed.
Ibogaine and other ibogan type alkaloids present anti‐addictive effects against several drugs of abuse and occur in different species of the Apocynaceae family. In this work, we used gas chromatography‐mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and principal component analysis (PCA) in order to compare the alkaloid profiles of the root and stem barks of four Mexican Tabernaemontana species with the root bark of the entheogenic African shrub Tabernanthe iboga. PCA demonstrated that separation between species could be attributed to quantitative differences of the major alkaloids, coronaridine, ibogamine, voacangine, and ibogaine. While T. iboga mainly presented high concentrations of ibogaine, Tabernaemontana samples either showed a predominance of voacangine and ibogaine, or coronaridine and ibogamine, respectively. The results illustrate the phytochemical proximity between both genera and confirm previous suggestions that Mexican Tabernaemontana species are viable sources of anti‐addictive compounds.
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