Chemical Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of Wild Garlic <i>Allium ursinum</i> of Bulgarian Origin

Abstract

The chemical composition of fresh flowers from Allium ursinum (ramsons, bear's garlic, wild garlic) growing in Bulgaria has been studied. Thymidine (1), adenosine (2), astragalin (kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (3), kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-glucopyranosyl-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (4), kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-neohesperoside (5), and kaempferol-3-O-beta-D-neohesperoside-7-O-beta-D-glucopyranoside (6) were isolated from the n-butanol extract and identified by different spectroscopic and spectrometric methods. Thymine (7), uridine (8), uracil (9) and 5-chloro-uridine (10) were detected in the same extract by GC-MS. This is the first report of the occurrence of 1, 2, 4, 7 - 10 in the flowers of A. ursinum. GC-MS of the volatile components of fresh flowers and leaves from the same plant revealed a high content of sulfur compounds, some of which are reported for the first time for A. ursinum. The antimicrobial activities of extracts from fresh flowers and leaves of A. ursinum have been tested; some extracts exhibited moderate antifungal properties.