‘Caincin’, a bioactive saponin mixture from Chiococca alba (L.) Hitch. (Rubiaceae), first obtained by European workers in nineteenth century and which was thought to be a homogenous material, was investigated by us and resulted in the isolation of three saponins characterized as 3β-[(β-D-glucuronopyranosyl)oxy]-oleana-12,15-dien-28-oic acid, 3β-[(β-D-glucuronopyranosyl)oxy]-oleana-12,15-dien-28-oic acid 6′-ethyl ester, and 3β-[(β-D-glucuronopyranosyl)oxy]-23-hydroxyoleana-12,15-dien-28-oic acid 6′- ethyl ester.
CostaOA. (1932) Plantas Medicinaes Brasileiras Estudo Farmacobotanico de Cainca. Revista Brásileira de Medicina e Farmacia, 8, 124–129, and the references cited therein.
2.
CruzJ. (1932) Cainca, Estudo Botanico, Pharmacognostico e Chimico. Boletim de Museu Nacional VIII, 97–116, and the references cited therein.
3.
BhattacharyyaJ, CunhaEVL. (1992) A triterpenoid from the root-bark of Chiococcca alba, Phytochemistry, 31, 2545–2547.
4.
AhmedVU, Atta-ur-Rahman. (1994) Hand Book of Natural Products Data, Vol. 2, Pentacyclic Triterpenoids. Elsevier, Amsterdam.
5.
BudzikewiczH, DjerassiC, WilliamsDH. (1964) Structure Elucidation of Natural Products by Mass Spectrometry Holden-Day, San Francisco, Vol II, p.121.
