1996 Volume 44 Issue 6 Pages 1162-1167
A new secoiridoid glucoside named 3'-O-caffeoylsweroside (1), and two new phenolic apioglucosides, named kelampayoside A (4) and kelampayoside B (6), together with eleven known compounds (five iridoids and six alkaloids), were isolated from the bark of Anthocephalus chinensis (Rubiaceae), an Indonesian medicinal plant from Sumatra Island, Indonesia. The chemical structure of 1, 4 and 6 have been elucidated respectively as 3'-O-caffeoylsweroside (1), antiarol I-O-β-D-apiofuranosyl(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (4), and antiarol 1-O-β-D-5"-O-caffeoylapiofu-ranosyl(1→6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (6) on the bases of their chemical and physicochemical properties. Among fourteen constituents characterized, cadambine (13), one of the major indole alkaloidal constituents of A. chinensis, was shown to exhibit moderate growth-inhibitory activity against the malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum (a chloroquine-resistant K1 strain) cultured in human erythrocytes.