Abstract

Curcuma zedoaria (Berg.), belongs to the Zingiberaceae family, is one of the medicinal plants that is found in Southeast Asia. This plant is known as “Nghe tim” in Vietnam; and a decoction of its rhizomes has been used traditionally for the cure flatulence, fatigue, and hepatitis. Previously, some studies on the chemical constituent of the rhizomes of C. zedoaria have reported plenty of curcuminoids and sesquiterpenoids together with their derivatives, which have shown a lot of various bioactivities such as antiproliferative characteristic, anti-ulcer, antioxidant and antibacterial potential. By chromatography column method along with preparative thin layer chromatography on a normal phase silica gel on the EtOAc extract of the rhizomes of Curcuma zedoaria, we have isolated five pure compounds. Their chemical structures have been elucidated by NMR techniques and comparison with publishing data that have determined to be gajustulactone A (1), isozedoarondiol (2), neolitacumone (3), β-sitosterol (4), and β-stigmasterol (5). The results of this study have contributed to the scientific data system on the chemical composition of Vietnamese medicinal plants, especially the rhizomes of Curcuma zedoaria grown in Tinh Bien, An Giang. Therefore, there is more evidence to continue screening studies to detect interesting biological activities from this species.