New phytoconstituents from the roots of Aralia cachemirica Decne

Aralia species are used in traditional medicine to treat rheumatic arthritis, nephritis, lumbago, lameness, gastritis, inflammation and diabetes mellitus. Phytochemical investigation of the roots of Aralia cachemirica Decne (Araliaceae) collected from the Aharbal region of Kashmir afforded four new phytoconstituents identified as n-tetracont-19-enoic acid (1), 4α,4β,8β,10β,13β,17β-hexamethyl perhydrophenanthrenyl-3β-n-decanoate (3), tetrahydrocontinentalic acid (4) and 1β,4α,4β-trimethyl-6-(10,14,18-trimethyl-tridec-6-enyl)-cyclohexane-4β-ol (5) along with the known compounds continentalic acid (2), maltose (6) and sucrose (7). The structures of these phytoconstituents have been elucidated on the basis of spectral data analysis.