Study Of Pharmacognosy And Fat-soluble Components Of Alfalfa

Afalfa(Medicago sativa L.),belonging to the genus Megidicago in family Leguminosae, distributes widely in the world and is used as a folk medicine to treat many diseases.In abroad,the chemical constituents of the plant were studied in detail.But in our country,its study of the chemical composition and biologic activity appeared rarely.Therefore,it is very important to study the value of its phamarceutical botany through comprehensive utilization of the affluent source and the achievement from aborad.On the basis of consulting many references about this plant,we investigated the microscopic identification about this plant at the first time.At the same time,the chemical constituents of the plant were studied.Various modern chromatographic techniques,spectral methods as well as physical and chemical means were used to isolate and identify constituents from afalfa(Medicago sativa L.).Fifteen compounds were obtained.Twelve were determined to be benzoic acid(1),vanillic acid(2),β-sitosterol(3),stigmasterol(4),apigenin(5), coumestrol(6),sativan(7),7-hydroxy-2',3',4'-trimethoxyisoflavan(8),soyasapogenol B(9),uracil (10),4-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxy-2-methoxyphenyl)- 6-methoxybenzofuran-3-carbaldehyde(11), 4-methoxymedicarpin(12).Among them,compound 11 was a new compound.