野豇豆(Vigna vexillata (L.) A. Rich)為豆科豇豆屬之多年生攀藤類草本植物,文獻指出豇豆屬植物具有抗菌、降血糖、降高血壓、抗乳癌、抗胃癌及降膽固醇之生理活性。在細胞毒殺預試驗的結果發現野豇豆氯仿分配層對具有艾黴素(doxorubicin)抗藥性的人類乳腺癌細胞(MCF-7/ADR)具有明顯的細胞毒殺活性,因此本研究選定野豇豆進行成分研究,希望藉此了解其化學組成。將野豇豆全草利用甲醇熱迴流萃取,經由分配萃取得到氯仿層及水層,分別利用矽膠管柱層析、Diaion HP-20逆相管柱層析、薄層層析進行分離純化,共鑑定出34個化合物,其中5個為天然界首次發現的新化合物,這些化合物將進一步送測藥理活性,希望藉此開發新的天然抗癌藥物。
Vigna vexillata (L.) A. Rich (Fabaceae) is a perennial climbing or trailing herb belonging to the Vigna genus. It has been reported that the extracts of Vigna species displayed the antibacterial, blood sugar reduction, antihypertensive, anti-breast cancer, anti-stomach cancer and cholesterol reduction bioactivities. In the preliminary cytotoxicity bioassay, the chloroform layer of methanol extracts of V. vexillata demonstrated the most significant cytotoxicity toward the doxorubicin resistant human breast adenocarcinoma cell lines (MCF-7/ADR). Therefore, the present research is aimed to purify and identify the constituents of V. vexillata. The methanol extracts of whole plants of V. vexillata were fractionated into chloroform and water solubles and further purified using silica gel column chromatography, reverse-phase Diaion HP-20 column chromatography, and thin-layer chromatography, respectively. Totally thirty four compounds were identified and among the isolates five compounds were reported from the natural sources for the first time. These isolates would be subjected into the biological activity examinations to explore new natural anticancer drugs.