Phytochemical investigation and antifungal activity of the seeds of Centratherum anthelminticum Kuntze.

Centratherum anthelminticum O. Kuntze, syn. Vernonia anthelmintica Willd. (Asteraceae), is known as kalajiri or purple fleebane. It is an erect, branched, leafy annual herb, 50 to 90 cm in height, distributed throughout India up to 1650 m altitude in the Himalayas, Afghanistan and Malaysia. The seeds are acrid, astringent, anthelmintic, diuretic, stomachic, tonic and used to treat fever, skin diseases, leucoderma, ulcers, asthma, kidney troubles, hiccough, intestinal colics, inflammation, sores and itching eyes (1). The seeds contained carbohydrates (2), steroids (3ñ5), acetylated triterpenoid saponins (6, 7), fatty acids (8, 9), aliphatic constituents (5), chalcone, flavone and butin (10, 11) and elemanolide lactone (12). The seeds exhibited analgesic and antipyretic (13), larvicidal (14), antimicrobial (15), antifilarial (16), antiviral (17), spermicidal (18) and anthelmintic (19) activities. The present manuscript describes the isolation and characterization of two new naphthalene derivatives and antifungal activity of the seeds of C. anthelminticum.