Phenylanthraquinones and flavone-C-glucosides from the disjunct Bulbinella in New Zealand.

The genera Bulbine, Bulbinella and Kniphofia produce phenylanthraquinones and are mostly found in southern Africa, although a disjunct group of Bulbinella species endemic to New Zealand also contain phenylanthraquinones as reported herein. The sub-Antarctic megaherb B. rossii yielded sulphated phenylanthraquinones, including a phenylanthraquinone found to carry a sulphated glycoside substituent, 4'-O-demethylknipholone-4'-ß-D-xylopyranosyl-3″-sulphate. A sensitive HPLC method was used to analyse 5 of the 6 New Zealand Bulbinella species, all of which contained phenylanthraquinones. Leaves and roots had different profiles, but species were not distinct. Roots were rich in sulphated and free phenylanthraquinones (0.27 ± 0.09% dry wt), whereas leaves typically only contained free knipholone (0.14 ± 0.01%). Localisation of phenylanthraquinones to the stele and peel was observed in roots. Two flavone-C-glucosides were found in leaves of Bulbinella.

Cytotoxic Amides from Fruits of Kawakawa, Macropiper excelsum.

Cytotoxic amides have been isolated from the fruits of the endemic New Zealand medicinal plant kawakawa, Macropiper excelsum (Piperaceae). The main amide was piperchabamide A and this is the first report of this rare compound outside the genus Piper. Eleven other amides were purified including two new compounds with the unusual 3,4-dihydro-1(2H)-pyridinyl group. The new compounds were fully characterized by 2D NMR spectroscopy, which showed a slow exchange between two rotamers about the amide bond, and they were chemically synthesized. In view of the antitumor activity of the related piperlongumine, all of these amides plus four synthetic analogs were tested for cytotoxicity. The most active was the piperine homolog piperdardine, with an IC50 of 14 µM against HT 29 colon cancer cells.