Alkaloids of the flowers of Arundo donax

Phytochemistry
1971.0

Abstract

The phytochemical investigation of alkaloids in the flowers of Arundo donax was conducted as no previous work on its flowers had been reported. Two-week-old flower material was defatted and extracted with hot ethanol, followed by solvent extraction at different pH levels and isolation via reineckates. Isolated alkaloids included gramine, N,N-dimethyltryptamine, bufotenine, 5-methoxy-N-methyltryptamine, a new compound eleagnine (the first tetrahydro-β-carboline alkaloid from a graminaceous plant), 3,3'-bisindolylmethyl dimethylammonium hydroxide, gramine methohydroxide, and N,N-dimethyltryptamine methohydroxide. Additionally, gramine content in the flowers remained constant for the first two weeks post-appearance, then declined and was replaced by quaternary amine and bis-compound, suggesting that quaternary gramine compound could be a plausible precursor of gramine metabolites in higher plants.

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