Abstract
One new flavone glycoside and 11 known compounds were characterized from the methanolic extracts of Dtps. Tinny Ribbon × Dtps. Plum Rose (Phalaenopsis hybrids) by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometric analyses. In addition, the major pigment constituents
Phalaenopsis hybrids, known as moth orchids, are one of the most important orchids with different flower colors, such as white, yellow, red, red-purple, and purple. This orchid is not only suitable for domestic production, but also an important import plant material for the United States, Japan, and many European countries. 1,2 In Taiwan, one of the famous Phalaenopsis Kingdoms, the Phalaenopsis hybrids are most significant ornamental flowers for export worldwide, and has been emphasized by government to be developed as a dedicate agriculture industry. The chemistry of secondary metabolites of the Orchidaceae plants has been intensively investigated and various constituents, such as bibenzyl, 3-6 stilbenoid, 7-10 phenanthrene, 6,11,12 and phenanthropyran derivatives, 13,14 have been reported. In addition, flavonoids and anthocyanins, which are the main pigments in Phalaenopsis hybrid flowers, have also been studied and their structures were elucidated well in the literature. 15,16 Due to the structural diversity, and biological and ecological significance of flavonoids and anthocyanins, researchers continue to study their functions in different plant materials. They affect plant interactions with microsymbionts, 17 insect predators and pollinators, 18,19 and also function in pigmentation and act as protectants against UV irradiation. 20-22 In fact, almost all higher plants produce flavonoids; however, some of them are quite unique, in which many specific compounds are accumulated during plant growth and development. Therefore, plants with different flavonoid accumulation patterns could be used to study the regulation of the flavanone metabolic pathway and to elucidate potential biosynthetic mechanism. Anthocyanins are also important secondary metabolites that constitute a major subgroup of flavonoids. They play one of the major roles as pigments of flowers and the biosynthetic pathway of anthocyanins is one of the most extensively studied pathways of plant secondary products. The common biosynthesis of anthocyanidins starts with general phenylpropanopid metabolism and leads to colorless flavonoids and colored anthocyanidins, successively. 23 Herein this study wishes to report the characterization of the chemical constituents in the flowers of Dtps. Tinny Ribbon × Dtps. Plum Rose (red Phalaenopsis hybrids) as a reference for further study on the biosynthetic pathway for these pigments.
Fresh flowers of Dtps. Tinny Ribbon × Dtps. Plum Rose were extracted with methanolic aqueous solution containing 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid (TFA) at room temperature and concentrated.
24
The successive purification by a combination of conventional chromatographic techniques characterized one new compound apigenin 6-C-β-d-ribopyranosyl-7-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (

Structures of compounds 1-
The pseudomolecular formula of compound

Chemical structure and mass fragmentation of 1.

Significant heteronuclear multiple bond correlation (—) and nuclear Overhauser effect spectroscopy (---) correlations of 1.
NMR Spectroscopic Data of Compound 1. a
NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance; HMBC, heteronuclear multiple bond correlation; COSY, correlation spectroscopy.
aNMR data were measured in CD3OD at 500 MHz (1H) and 125 MHz (13C), respectively.
The isolated compounds
Experimental
General
Melting points were determined using Yanagimoto MP-S3 micro melting point apparatus without correction. The UV spectra were obtained on a GBC Cintra 101 UV-Vis spectrophotometer. IR spectra were recorded with a Varian Scimitar FTS-2000 FT-IR spectrometer. Optical rotations were measured using a JASCO DIP-370 digital polarimeter. NMR spectra were recorded on Bruker AV-500 and Avance 300 spectrometers. Chemical shifts were reported in δ values (ppm) with reference to the respective residual solvent or deuterated solvent peaks. High-performance liquid chromatography was performed on a Shimadzu LC-10AT VP series pumping system equipped with a Shimadzu SPD-6AV UV-Vis spectrophotometric detector at 375 and 530 nm, a Luna C-18 packed column (4.6 × 250 mm, 5 µm) and a Rheodyne injector. MS/MS spectrometry was analyzed on a Perkin-Elmer SCIEX API mass spectrometer equipped with an electrospray ionization interface (ISV = 4700, orifice voltage of 80). The mass spectrometer was operated in the negative-ion mode. High-resolution mass spectra were determined with a JEOL JMS-700 spectrometer with FAB ionization. GR-grade organic solvent: methanol, chloroform, n-butanol, n-hexane, ethyl acetate, acetone, ammonia, and hydrochloric acid (ACS grade) were purchased from Mallinckrodt (St Louis, MO, USA). Deuterated solvent (CD3OD) was purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St Louis, MO, USA).
Plant Material
The flowers of Phalaenopsis hybrids, Dtps. Tinny Ribbon × Dtps. Plum Rose, were kindly provided by Ox Orchid Nursery, Tainan, Taiwan and were authenticated by Prof W. H. Chen (Department of Life Sciences, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan). A voucher specimen (TSWu_ PCKuo_20060001) has been deposited in the herbarium of School of Pharmacy, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.
Extraction and Isolation
Fresh flowers of Dtps. Tinny Ribbon × Dtps. Plum Rose (1.24 kg) were cut into small pieces and were extracted with 0.1% TFA methanolic solution (5 × 2 L) at room temperature for 8 hours and filtered. Evaporation of the solvent under reduced pressure provided dark brown crude extract (70 g). It was partitioned with ethyl acetate (EtOAc) to yield EtOAc (15 g) and H2O (55 g) soluble residue, respectively. The EtOAc extract was loaded on a silica gel column, and elution was carried out with a stepwise gradient from 5 % to 50 % EtOAc in n-hexane, and finally washed by MeOH to afford five fractions. Fraction 1 was further separated by two successive silica gel open columns with mixtures of EtOAc and n-hexane (5:95) to give mixtures of β-sitosteryl acetate (
Apigenin 6-C-β-Ribopyranosyl-7-O-β-Glucopyranoside (1)
Colorless powder.
MP: 205-207°C.
[α]D 25: + 48 (c 0.2, MeOH).
UV (MeOH) λ max (log ε): 334 (3.20), 271 (3.40), 227 (4.10, sh), 208 (4.30) nm.
IR (KBr) ν max: 3370, 2917, 1649, 1609, 1482, 1453, 1350, 1185 cm–1.
1H and 13C NMR: Table 1.
ESI-MS m/z (relative intensity %): 563 [M−H]− (100), 473 (7), 401 (31), 341 (9), 311 (16), 297 (12).
HR-FAB-MS m/z 565.1555 [M+H]+ (calcd for C26H29O14, 565.1557).
Antioxidant and Antityrosinase Activities
See supporting information.
Footnotes
Acknowledgments
Authors are thankful to the Ox Orchid Nursery, Tainan, Taiwan for their kind support of the plant materials.
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: financial support from the Council of Agriculture, Executive Yuan, Taiwan, and Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), Taiwan.
Supplemental Material
References
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