Phytochemical and Biological Investigations of Curcuma longa

Abstract

Seven compounds, turmeronol-A (1), turmeronol-B (2), 3,4-dimethoxycinnamic acid (3), 4-hydroxy-
3-methoxycinnamic acid (4), 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (5), 2,3,5,6-tetrahydroxyarturmerone (6) and 4-hydroxybisabola-
2,10-diene-9-one (7) have been isolated from the carbon tetrachloride soluble fraction of a methanol extract
of the rhizomes of Curcuma longa. Careful interpretation of the NMR data and comparison with turmeronol A (1)
allowed tentative identification of compound 6 as 2,3,5,6-tetrahydroxy-arturmerone, which appears to be a new
molecule. The n-hexane, carbon tetrachloride and chloroform extractives of the rhizomes when subjected to
antimicrobial screening and brine shrimp lethality bioassay demonstrated mild to moderate antimicrobial activity and
strong cytotoxicity with LC50 value 1.56 μg/ml.