Constituents from the Stems of Malaysian Uncaria tomentosa

Abstract

Uncaria tomentosa (Willd. ex Schult.) DC. is well known as a medicinal plant that has been used for various treatments. This tropical vine grows up to 30 m tall and commonly found in natural forest. It has hook-like thorns that resemble the claws of a cat. The leaves are elliptic with a smooth edge, and grow in opposite whorls of two. Although there has not been any literature found on the availability of this species locally, we have discovered it in several parts of Peninsular Malaysia. A preliminary investigation of the stems of the plant has yielded three compounds, scopoletin, isopteropodine along with ß-sitosterol. The structures of the isolated compounds were characterized by analysis of spectral characteristics (mostly 1D, 2D NMR and mass spectrometry) and comparison with literature.

On the probable composition of ‘Jamaican stone’ aphrodisiac

“…A strong NH absorption peak would appear at 3368 cm -1 if oxindole alkaloids occurred instead (Wahid et al, 2013).…”

“…Cat's claw is a plant whose bark contains quinovic acid glycosides, triterpenes, sterols and phenolic compounds and shares oxindole alkaloids with other Uncaria (Wahid et al, 2013) (Figure 3). Nevertheless, at low doses, far from showing toxic effects, it has been reported to have anti-inflamatory and inmunostimulant properties (Quintela and Lock de Ugaz, 2003).…”

Uncaria tomentosa (Willd. ex Schult.): Focus on Nutraceutical Aspects

“…The measurements results revealed that Limit of Detection (LOD), Relative Standard Deviation (RS-D), and limit of quantification (LOQ) were calculated to be 13.87 μg/ml, <1.2% and 42.05 μg/ml, respectively [7]. A study reported that dichloromethane stem extract of Uncaria tomentosa analyzed by MS and 1D, 2D NMR methods contained the compounds of scopoletin, isopteropodine, and ß-sitosterol [8]. Peñaloza et al [9] prepared the extract of different parts of cat's claw (common name for Uncaria tomentosa) from South-American rainforests, whose main chemical compositions were quinovic acid glycosides in stem bark, as well as polyphenol and alkaloid compounds in leaves, stem bark, and branches, which were identified by the HPLC-PDA method.…”