Two new clerodane-type diterpenoids from Bornean liverwort Gottschelia schizopleura and their cytotoxic activity

The Bornean liverwort Gottschelia schizopleura was investigated phytochemically for the first time. Two new and four previously known clerodane-type diterpenoids were isolated from the MeOH extract of G. schizopleura through a series of chromatographic techniques. The structures of the new metabolites were established by analyses of their spectroscopic data (1D NMR, 2D NMR, HRESIMS and IR). All the isolated compounds 1–6 were tested against human promyelocytic leukaemia (HL-60), human colon adenocarcinoma (HT-29) and Mus musculus skin melanoma (B16-F10). Compound 1 and 2 showed active inhibition against HL-60 and B16-F10 cells

Chemical composition and anti-bacterial activity of Bornean medicinal ginger

One new phenylbutenoid, (3Z)-2',4',5'-trimethoxyphenylbutadiene (1) along with five known metabolites were isolated from aquatic galangal (Alpinia aquatica Rosc.) and their chemotaxonomy importance in five populations of A. aquatica collected from Kota Kinabalu, Ranau and Kota Belut in Sabah, Malaysia. The antibacterial potential as well as the chemosystematics importance of this discovery is discussed

A new seco-clerodane-type diterpenoid from Bornean liverwort Schistochila acuminate

A new compound, schistochilic acid D (1) and two known compounds (2 and 3) were isolated from MeOH extract of Bornean liverwort Schistochila acuminata collected from Mount Trus Madi, Sabah. The structure of the new metabolite was established based on spectroscopic (1D NMR, 2D NMR, and IR). And HRESIMS data. In addition, another population of S. Acuminata collected from Mount Alab (Sabah) yielded four known compounds, 2, 3, 4 and 5. These compounds were tested for their biological potential against the B16-F10 cell line. Compounds 4 and 5 exhibited weak cytotoxic activity

Chemical Composition and Antibacterial Activity of Bornean Medicinal Ginger Alpinia aquatica

One new phenylbutenoid, (3Z)-2',4',5'-trimethoxyphenylbutadiene (1) along with five known metabolites were isolated from aquatic galangal (Alpinia aquatica Rosc.) and their chemotaxonomy importance in five populations of A. aquatica collected from Kota Kinabalu, Ranau and Kota Belut in Sabah, Malaysia. The antibacterial potential as well as the chemosystematics importance of this discovery is discussed

Eleusine Indica for Food and Medicine

Eleusine indica, a perennial herb that belongs to the Poaceae family, is locally known as “rumput sambau”. The species can be found in the tropical regions and it is the only species of Eleusine in Malaysia. In India, some parts of the plant such as the roots and the seeds are used as food and can be eaten raw or cooked. The young seedling is also used as a side dish with rice, while the seeds are sometimes used as a famine food. Although this grass is not considered as food in Malaysia, the local people utilise it to treat various ailments such as hastening the placenta delivery after childbirth, pain relieve for vaginal bleeding, asthma, fever, urinary infection, haemorrhoids, and tonic for flu related symptoms. Due to wide spectrum of traditional usage, a complete review of E. indica which focusing on food and medicinal perspectives is necessary to organize and evaluate its potential for further studies and commercial exploitation. The information on the species was collected from scientific journals, books, and reports searched through available databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Directory of Open Access Journals, Science Direct, Bioline International, and Reaxys. Contextually, the present review reveals that apart from the roots, the plant is relatively safe to ingest. It represents a rich source of nutrients and contains therapeutic phytochemicals such as flavonoids, steroids, essential oils, cardiac glycosides, coumarins, fatty acids, anthraquinones, anthrones, triterpenes, tannins, and alkaloids. Thus, E. indica can be considered as a natural reservoir for both food and medicine

Two new Lobane Diterpene from a Bornean Soft Coral, Sinularia sp.

Two new lobane diterpenoids, prenyl-a-elemenone (1), ent-prenyl-ß-elemene (2) (stereoisomer), and a known compound, a-murrolene (3) were isolated from a population of Bornean soft coral Sinularia sp. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic data, including 2D NMR and HR-MS spectra. Compounds were tested for their cytotoxicity and antibacterial activities against antibiotic resistant clinical strains

A new epi-neoverrucosane-type diterpenoid from the liverwort Pleurozia subinflata in Borneo

New bioactive 13-epi-neoverrucosane diterpenoid, 5β-acetoxy-13-epi-neoverrucosanic acid (1) along with three known secondary metabolites, 13-epi-neoverrucosan-5β-ol (2), chelodane (3) and (E)-β-farnesene (4) were isolated from the MeOH extract of east Malaysia’s liverwort Pleurozia subinfata. The chemical structure of new compound was elucidated by the analyses of its spectroscopic data (FTIR, NMR and HR-ESI-MS). These epi-neoverrucosane-type compounds seem to be notable chemosystematic markers for P. subinfata in Borneo. Compound 3 was widespread in marine sponges however this is the frst record for 3 to be found in liverwort. These metabolites were tested for their antifungal potentials against selected fungi from the marine environment. Compound 1 exhibited efective antifungal activity against Lagenidium thermophilum

New prenylated bibenzyls from Bornean liverwort Acrobolbus saccatus

Liverworts are the most primitive terrestrial plant which known to produce unique and wide variety of compounds. Ethyl acetate crude extract was subjected to several chromatographic techniques for purification. Three new compounds, saccatenes A-C (1-3) were isolated together with two known prenyl bibenzyl derivative, 2,2-dimethyl-5-hydroxy-6-carboxy-7-(2-phenylethyl) chromene (4) and radulanin A-5-one (5) from the Bornean liverwort Acrobolbus saccatus (Hook.) Trevis collected from Mountain Trus Madi, Sabah, Malaysia. The structures of the three new metabolites were established by analyses of the spectroscopic data (1D NMR, 2D NMR, HRESIMS and IR), and the antibacterial activity against eight selected human pathogenic species of bacteria were tested

Effect of Drying Techniques on Phytochemical Contents and Biological Activities on Bamboo Leaves as Potential Herbal Tea

Presently, bamboos have gained global attention for their therapeutic potential. However, it is rarely considered for its biological activities due to the limitations of studies, especially in Sabah, Malaysia. Thus, searching for the phytochemical content and biological activities among bamboo leaves has increased demand in certain Asian countries. Six species of bamboos, namely Bambusa vulgaris, B. multiplex, B. tuldoides, Dinochloa sublaevigata, Gigantochloa levis, and Schizostachyum brachycladum, were studied with five drying methods: sun drying, shade drying, microwave drying, oven drying, and freeze-drying. The infused leaves of bamboo extracts were analyzed for their total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid (TFC) contents. The antioxidant activities were determined using two assays; the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and the ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assays. Toxicity tests of potential bamboo extracts were investigated using the brine shrimp lethality bioassay (BSLB). Bioactive compounds of potential bamboo extracts were determined using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS). The freeze-drying method exhibited the highest yield for the phytochemical contents and antioxidant activities, excluding B. vulgaris, which is preferable to microwave drying. TPC and TFC results showed a range of 2.69 ± 0.01 – 12.59 ± 0.09 mg GAE/g and 0.77 ± 0.01 – 2.12 ± 0.01 mg QE/g, respectively. The IC50 of DPPH ranged from 2.92 ± 0.01 to 4.73 ± 0.02 μg/mL, showing high radical scavenging activity. FRAP values also significantly differed, ranging from 6.40 ± 0.12 to 36.65 ± 0.09 mg TE/g. Toxicity studies of potential bamboo extracts displayed no toxicity activity against the BSLB based on LC50 analysis. This data may help in utilizing the bamboo leaves as functional food applications to be developed into bamboo tea

Eleusine Indica for Food and Medicine

Eleusine indica, a perennial herb that belongs to the Poaceae family, is locally known as “rumput sambau”. The species can be found in the tropical regions and it is the only species of Eleusine in Malaysia. In India, some parts of the plant such as the roots and the seeds are used as food and can be eaten raw or cooked. The young seedling is also used as a side dish with rice, while the seeds are sometimes used as a famine food. Although this grass is not considered as food in Malaysia, the local people utilise it to treat various ailments such as hastening the placenta delivery after childbirth, pain relieve for vaginal bleeding, asthma, fever, urinary infection, haemorrhoids, and tonic for flu related symptoms. Due to wide spectrum of traditional usage, a complete review of E. indica which focusing on food and medicinal perspectives is necessary to organize and evaluate its potential for further studies and commercial exploitation. The information on the species was collected from scientific journals, books, and reports searched through available databases such as Google Scholar, PubMed, Directory of Open Access Journals, Science Direct, Bioline International, and Reaxys. Contextually, the present review reveals that apart from the roots, the plant is relatively safe to ingest. It represents a rich source of nutrients and contains therapeutic phytochemicals such as flavonoids, steroids, essential oils, cardiac glycosides, coumarins, fatty acids, anthraquinones, anthrones, triterpenes, tannins, and alkaloids. Thus, E. indica can be considered as a natural reservoir for both food and medicine