Phenanthrenes of Eulophia ochreata Lindl

Abstract

Pawra tribe of Satpuda mountain ranges that belong to Maharashtra region, India, is known to use tubers of Eulophia ochreata for rejuvenating and aphrodisiac properties and also for curing rheumatism. For systematic scientific validation of folk claims of E. ochreata tubers, we report here the collection, extraction, isolation and spectral characterization of molecules and also its evaluation for free radical scavenging activity. Isolation of molecules was carried out on activity-guided fractionation in 2,2’-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl assay. This is the first report of isolation of 9,10-Dihydro 2,5-Dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol and 5,7-Dimethoxyphenanthrene- 2,6-diol from this orchid. Key words: Antioxidant activity; DPPH; Eulophia ochreata; tubers; 9,10-Dihydro-2,5-Dimethoxyphenanthrene-1,7-diol; 5,7-Dimethoxyphenanthrene-2,6-diol; phenanthrenes