Phytochemical and Pharmacological Studies of Alhagi Maurorum Root Extracts

Abstract

This thesis describes the study carried out on the roots of the plant Alhagi maurorum (family Leguminosae) growing in Palestine. The plant family leguminosae (Fabaceae) is one of the largest families of flowering plants with 18,000 species classified into around 560 genera 6 Leguminosae is an extremely diverse family constituting one of humanity's most important groups of plants. Legumes (plants of the pea or bean family) are used as crops, forages and green manures. They are also used to synthesize a wide range of natural products such as flavours, drugs, poisons and dyes. Alhagi maurorum (Camel thorn), fig.1 – 4, is a spiny deep-rooted, rhizomatous, perennial shrub, with roots that can extent six or seven feet into the ground, fig.5. The spiny, intricately-branched shrub reaches 1.5 to four feet in height. The plant, which is green and hairless, has simple, entire leaves that are alternately arranged. The leaf shape is oval to lance shaped. The small pea-like flowers are pinkish purple to maroon and are born on short, spine-tipped branches that arise from the leaf axils. The reddish-brown to tan fruits are constricted between the seeds, with a short narrow beak at the end. Alhagi maurorum grows in the area from west Asia (including Palestine, Syria, Egypt, Iraq, gulf countries, Cyprus, Turkey, and Iran) through Caucasus and southern Russia, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India to the Himalayas. V Alhagi maurorum occurs principally in deep moist soil, but it also occurs in dry, rocky, or saline soils. The plant is especially abundant along riverbanks, canals, and irrigation ditches, but it sometimes spreads into cultivated fields. Alhagi maurorum is used in folk medicine as a purgative, laxative, diaphoretic, expectorant and diuretic 11-12. Its flowers are used to treat piles, migraine, and warts. Oil from the leaves is used in the treatment of rheumatism 13. Locally, water extracts of its roots are used to enlarge the ureter and to remove kidney stones. The object of the present work is to isolate the chemical constituents of the roots of this plant and to elucidate their structures by chemical and spectroscopic methods and to investigate the pharmacological activities of the extracts and the compounds isolated from this important local plant. This thesis contains three chapters: Chapter one: This chapter is general introduction of natural products in addition to description of the previous studies. Chapter two: Recorded herein the experimental work done on Alhagi maurorum roots, including the extraction with solvents of different polarity and the separation and purification of the chemical constituents by chromatographic methods, and determining its physical and chemical properties, then preparation of the extracts and pure compounds for their pharmacological activity study.