The constituents of Withania somnifera / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway.

  • Frederick Belding Power
Date:
1911
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: The constituents of Withania somnifera / by Frederick B. Power and Arthur H. Salway. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    was found to contain nitrogen, but which could not be obtained crystalline nor did it yield any crystalline salt. The chloroform extract of the resin was also tested for the presence of a glucoside, but with a negative result. Ethyl Acetate and Alcohol Extracts of the Resin. The ethyl acetate extract of the resin amounted to only 10 grams. It was found to contain some glucosidic material, since on heating with dilute sulphuric acid in aqueous alcohol it yielded a sugar from which rl-phenylglucosazone (m. p. 205°) was prepared. The alcohol extract of the resin, consisting of a hard, brittle solid, amounted to 94 grams. It was glucosidic in character, and on heating for several hours with dilute sulphuric acid in aqueous alcohol it also yielded a small amount of an indefinite basic sub- stance, the properties of which were very similar to those of the substance obtained from the chloroform extract of the resin. Summary. The material employed for this investigation represented the entire plant of Withania somnifera, Dunal (Nat. ord. Solanaceae), and was obtained directly from South Africa. The root and the overground portion of the plant, consisting of the leaves and stems, were separately examined. Preliminary tests, conducted with both portions of the plant, l| indicated the presence of an alkaloid. I. Constituents of the Root.—An alcoholic extract of the root, when distilled -with steam, yielded a very small amount of an essential oil. The portion of the extract which was soluble in water contained, besides indefinite, amorphous substances, a quantity of sugar, which yielded e?-phenylglucosazone (m. p. 210°). The portion of the extract which was insoluble in water con- sisted chiefly of a black resin, and amounted to about 2'7 per cent, of the weight of the root. From this resin the following definite substances were isolated: hentriacontane, C31H64; a phytosterol, C27H46O (m. p. 135—136°); a mixture of fatty acids, consisting of palmitic, stearic, cerotic, oleic, and linolic acids; ipuranol, ^23^88^2(011)2; a new monohydric alcohol, withaniol, C25H3304,0H, decomposing at 305°, and having [a]D +91'2°; and an amorphous, alkaloidal principle, which, on treatment with alkalis, yielded a crystalline base, C12H10N2 (m. p. 116°). II. Constituents of the Leaves and Stems.—An alcoholic extract of this material, when submitted to distillation with steam, yielded a very small amount of an essential oil. The portion of the extract which was soluble in water contained, besides tannin and colouring