ISOLATION AND STRUCTURE ELUCIDATION OF A NEW OLEANANE TYPE GLYCOSIDE FROM THE AERIAL PORTION OF CESTRUM NOCTURNUM

Cestrum nocturnum (Solanaceae) is an ornamental plant cultivated in various parts of the world due to its sweet-scented white flowers. It is commonly called night-blooming Jessamine (Raat ki Rani). The genus is known for its toxicity to feedents. The leaves may cause uneasiness in animals which may lead to severe gastroenteritis. The plant is known to be a rich source of pharmacologically active saponins. Looking to its various pharmacological activities as reported, the plant was explored for the isolation of new phytochemicals. During the process, a new oleanen type glycoside was isolated from the butanolic fraction of the leaves of Cestrum nocturnum and was characterized as 3-O-beta-D-xylopyranoside-olean-12-en-28-oic acid-28-O-beta-arabinopyranosyl-(1-3)-beta-D-galacto-pyranosyl-(1-2)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-(1-4)-beta-D-glucopyranosyl ester, along with two reported compounds nocturnoside A and karativoside A. The structure was elucidated on the basis of 1D and 2D NMR and mass spectrometry.