PHYTOCHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL EXAMINATION OF THE ROOT EXTRACT OF ARTOCARPUS HIRSUTA, LAM.

The pantropical genus Artocarpus have been extensively investigated and is well-known to be rich in isoprenylated phenolic secondary metabolites. In the present study the chemical examination of Artocarpus hirsuta roots, on conventional extraction and various chromatographic methods led to the isolaton of stigmasterol, lupeol, cyclomorusin, cycloartomunin and betulinic acid. All the compounds were characterized by 2D NMR and MS spectral data and comparison with published data for the known compounds. The compound cyclomorusin is new to the genus Artocarpus and all the compounds were reported for the first time from the roots of this species. The work was further extended to test the crude extracts for antibacterial and antifungal activities. The results from the present study have shown that the species have considerable activity against selected bacterial and fungal strains which can be attributed to the presence of steroidal and phenolic compounds in the crude extracts of Artocarpus hirsuta.