Isolation and characterization of steroids, phthalide and essential oil of the fruits of Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff., an endemic mountain celery

Abstract

Kelussia odoratissima Mozaff. is an Iranian endangered endemic edible plant with enormous use in the middle region of Iran as food and spice especially yogurt seasoning, and as medicinal herb for anti-inflammatory and cardiovascular purposes. Although antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and antilipidemic effects of this plant have so far been studied, but chemical analyses of the non volatile constituents of the plant have not yet been reported. Therefore, identification of chemical constituents of different parts of plant was investigated in the present study. In this direction, two steroids including stigmasterol and β-sitosterol and one phthalide namely 3-butyliden-4,5-dihydrophthalide were isolated from the plant fruits. In addition, the essential oil composition of the fruits was studied. Thirty eight compounds were identified, of which the major components were found to be Z-ligustilide (29.2%), germacrene-B (15.9%) and germacrene-D (15.5%). According to the previous bioassays of the isolated compounds such as anti-inflammatory and anti-lipidemic effects of phthalides and steroids, a chemical-biological relation can be postulated.

Keywords: 3-Butyliden-4,5-dihydrophthalide; Apiaceae; Germacrene; Stigmasterol; Z-Ligustilide; β-Sitosterol.

Fig. 1

Structures of isolated pure compounds. I. stigmasterol; II. β-sitosterol; III. ligustilide (3-butyliden-4,5- dihydrophthalide)