Biochemical Studies On The Contituents Of Some Egyptian Wild Plants

Solemostemma argel, is a wild plant commonly growing in the Eastern desert and along the Nile banks in South Egypt. It has been used in Folkloric medicine as purgative, antipyretic, expectorant, antispasmodic and to treat bile congestion. Reinvestigation of the plant extract by repeated column chromatography afforded three compounds from hexane extract, β- sitosterol and two new compounds which were identified as heneicosanyl pentanoate and lupeol-3-methyl ketone, isolated for the first time from the plant. While acacetin (5, 7- dihydroxy – 4\ methoxy flavone or apigenin – 4\ methoxy ether) and -- dihydroxy - - carboxyl --formyl,  valero lactone, were isolated and identified from the ethyl acetate extract. The structures of the isolates were achieved by IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR and mass spectral analysis. This is the first report on these compounds from the plant.