A Dihydroisocoumarin from the Rhizome of Aloe pulcherrima

Chromatographic separation of the chloroform/methanol (1:1) extract of the Aloe pulcherrima rhizome afforded a new dihydroisocoumarin derivative (1) along with six anthraquinone derivatives (2-7). The chemical structures of the compounds were established based on spectroscopic analyses including NMR (1H and 13C NMR, 1H-1H COSY, HMQC, HMBC, NOESY), MS and comparison with reported literature. The isolated compounds were evaluated for in vitro antibacterial and antiplasmodial activities. Almost all compounds showed antibacterial activity with the highest activity observed for compound 5 against Enterococcus faecalis. Whereas, only compound, 3, 4, 5 and 6 showed antiplasmodial activity against chloroquine-resistant (W2) strain of Plasmodium falciparum.