Coumarins from the roots of Cleme Viscosa (L.) antimicrobial and cytotoxic studies

Two coumarins, 7-geranyloxycoumarin (auraptene) and 6′-hydroxy-β-cycloauraptene were isolated from the roots of Cleme viscosa (Capparidaceae). The second compound has never been reported previously from this plant. The isolation process involved extraction with various solvents and separation using column chromatography techniques. The structure of the compounds was assigned on the basis of spectroscopic data Such as IR, UV, 1H NMR, 13C NMR, COSY, HMQC, HMBC, DEPT and MS. However, bioactivity screening showed that the pure isolated compounds possessed no activity on two species of bacteria Bacillus cereus NRRLUI-1447 and Pseudomonas aeruginosa UI-60690 and four species of fungi (Aspergillus ochraceus NRRL 398, Candida lipolytica ATCC 2075, Sacchromyces cereviseae NRRL 2034 and Sacchromyces lipolytica). The cytotoxic test of the compounds against CEM-SS (T-cell lymphoblastic leukemia) cells were also carried out with IC50 values of 14 and 18 μg/ml,respectively.