Studies On The Active Constituents Of Opuntia Milpa Alta

Opuntia Milpa Alta is one of species of the Opuntia (Cactaceae) genus, it was introduced to China from Mexican by the Ministry of Agriculture in the year 1998 and nowadays is widely planted. The stem of this plant is used as a folk medicine for the treatment of diabetes, gastric ulcer, inflammatory and several other diseases.In the course of our chemical studies on the bioactive constituents of Opuntia Milpa Alta, the 80% ethanolic extract of its stems was found to show potent phase of the extract exhibited reducing blood lipid and anti-diabetes effects. The ethyl acelate soluble phase of the extract exhibited potenter reducing blood lipid activity than other phase. The petroleum ether soluble phase of the extract exhibited potenter anti-diabetes activity than other phase. The chemical investigation of this plant resulted in the isolation of 27 compounds by a variety charomatography methods, and 24 compounds were established on the basis of spectral data including UV, IR, EI-MS, HRESI-MS, 1D-NMR, 2D-NMR, physical and chemical properties, as follows: XRZ-1:β-sitosterol, XRZ-2: Heptadecan-1-ol, XRZ-3: 5-Hydroxymethyl-2-furancarboxaldehyde, XRZ-4: syringaldehyde, XRZ-5: Vanillin, XRZ-6: p-Hydroxybenzaldehyde, XRZ-7: coniferyl aldehyde, XRZ-8: p-hydroxylcinnamaldehyde, XRZ-9: Quercetin-3-methyl ether, XRZ-10: diethyl 2-hydroxy-2-(4-hydroxybenzyl) succinate, XRZ-11: 2,6-Dimethoxy-1,4-benzoquinone, XRZ-12: 2,6-dimethoxyphenol, XRZ-13: 4-Hydroxybenzoic acid, XRZ-14:β-hydroxypropiovanillone, XRZ-15: 2,3,4-trihydroxypentanoicacid, XRZ-16: 4-Methoxy Cinnamic Acid, XRZ-17: 3-Hydroxy-4-methoxycinnamic acid, XRZ-18: 5-Hydroxyferulic acid, XRZ-19: 4-Hydroxycinnamic acid, XRZ-20: Protocatechuic acid, XRZ-21: mono n-butyl 2-(4-hydroxybenzyl) tartrate, XRZ-22: mono ethyl 2-(4-hydroxybenzyl) tartrate, XRZ-23: n-butyl eucomate, XRZ-24: Eucomic acid.Among all the compounds mentioned above, XRZ-10, XRZ-21, XRZ-22 were new compounds, and XRZ-3,XRZ-4,XRZ-5,XRZ-6,XRZ-7,XRZ-8,XRZ-9,XRZ-11,XRZ-12,XRZ-14,XRZ-15,XRZ-23,XRZ-24 were isolated from this plant for the first time. The lipid-lowering compoents of the petroleum ether extract were separated and identified by GC-MS, and its contents were determined with area normalization method. 26 compounds were separated and identified, main compounds in the extractives form the the petroleum ether extract wereβ- Sitosterol(28.61%), Phytol(12.11%), some Linoleic Acid, Linolenic Acid and Vitamin E.