A Novel Alkaloid from Stapelia hirsuta

The genus Stapelia belongs to the family Asclepiadaceae, which comprises a group of some 50 species, which have been used in medicine for their anti-inflammatory and antiarithritic properties . The presence of alkaloids in the genus Stapelia was first reported by Keller , where hordenine was isolated from the aerial part of S. gigantea. In addition, Meyer et al. reported the detection of N -methyl tyramine, choline and candicine in the aerial parts of S. gigantea. Several pigments have been identified in the flowers of different Stapelia species . Cyanidin-3-monoglucoside, cyanidin-3-rutinoside and cyanidin-3-sophoroside were identified in S. vareigata, S. comparabilis and S. ambigua, while cyanidin-3-rustinoside was the only pigment detected in S. nobilis. In a continuation of our interest in members of the family Asclepiadaceae 5−9, we investigated the chloroformic fraction of the aerial parts S. hirsuta and we report our findings herein. In this paper, we describe the isolation and identification of a new pyrano pyridine-dione alkaloid, in addition to the isolation of apigenin, luteolin and β-sitosterol-3-O-glucoside from the chloroformic fraction of the aerial parts of the plant.