Chemical Variations of Uncaria Ellipitca

Abstract

Uncaria elliptica is a woody climber, widely distributed in South and South East Asia. The species collected in Thailand and the species collected in Malaysia show chemical variations. This investigation reports chemical variations of the species within Sri Lanka itself Samples of the species were collected from the Kanneliya (KN) and Udawattakelle (UK) forest reserves. The KN plant and the UK plant showed minor differences in their triterpenoid compositions. The alkaloids of the two plants showed more striking differences. The KN plant gave ajmalicine, incorporating one molecule of tryptamine and one molecule of secologanin. The UK plant gave no ajmalicine, but gave the roxburghines, incorporating two molecules of tryptamine and one molecule of secologanin. The roxburghines are unique to the genus and among its 34 species, are found only in Uncaria elliptica.