A Molecular Networking-Based Discovery of Novel Curculatifolia and Rooperol A from Curculigo latifolia
Nadiah Mad Nasir1* Nur Kartinee Kassim1, Hanan Hasan2, Pavithren Devakrishnan1 dan Intan Safinar Ismail1

1Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.

2Department of Food Science, Faculty of Food Science and Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), Serdang 43400, Selangor, Malaysia.

Abstract

Curculigo latifolia is a herb without a stem that grows naturally in Western Malaysia. It belongs to the Hypoxidaceae family, which includes the genera Curculigo and Hypoxis. It is a shrub with leaves up to 70 centimeters in size. There are 30 accepted species of Curculigo, known for their diverse secondary metabolites, especially norlignans and phenolic glycosides. However, the chemical properties of Curculigo species remain underexplored. In this study, bioactivity assays and liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) along with molecular networking (MN) were used to analyze the metabolome of rhizomes and leaves of Curculigo latifolia, resulting in the discovery of several novel norlignan derivatives. Rhizomes and leaves were fractionated and screened for antioxidant and antibacterial properties. The most active fractions were annotated and identified through MS/MS-based molecular networking, leading to the characterization of high-abundance compounds. Using a bioassay-guided and MN approach, two novel compounds, Curculatifolia (1) and Rooperol A (2), were isolated. The structures were elucidated and characterized through NMR, DIMS, and FTIR spectroscopic analyses.

Keywords: Curculigo- Molecular networking- LC-MS/MS- norlignans-phenolic glycosides

Topic: Chemistry