Bio-active phytoconstituents from non-polar extracts of Diospyros lotus stems and demonstration of antifungal activity in the extracts

Abstract

The objective of this study is to isolate phytoconstituents from Diospyros lotus stems extracts and to evaluate antifungal, lectin and trypsin inhibitory activities of the extracts. The stems were extracted with petroleum ether, diethyl ether and chloroform, respectively, three compounds were isolated and identified as β-sitosterol, stigmasterol and protocatechic acid from both petroleum ether and ether extracts. Chloroform extract was subjected to silica gel column chromatography using CHCl₃ as eluent and an increasing amount of EtOAc and MeOH gradually resulted in the isolation and identification of kaempferol 8-O-methylether, apigenin, kaempferol, kaempferol 3-O-α-rhamnoside and luteolin 7-O-β-glucoside. The petroleum ether, diethyl ether and chloroform extracts of Diospyros lotus were tested at the concentration of 0.1 mg/ml for their effect against the fungus Mycosphaerella arachidicola and for their lectin and trypsin inhibitory activities. The results showed that the extracts exhibited significant antifungal activity but had no hemagglutinating and trypsin inhibitory activities.