Chemical constituents isolated from Zygophyllum melongena Bunge growing in Mongolia

We report the first investigation of the chemical constituents of Zygophyllum melongena Bunge, a species growing in Mongolia. The quinovic acid glycosides 3-O-(β-D-glucopyranosyl)quinovic acid and 3-O-(β-D-glucopyranosyl)quinovic acid (28→1)-(β-D-glucopyranosyl) ester were identified in the chloroform fraction along with the flavonoid glycoside astragalin. The n-butanol fraction contained (+)-D-pinitol as the major component, a cyclitol with anti-diabetic properties. The structures of the isolated natural products were confirmed using ESI-MS and NMR spectroscopy (¹H, ¹³C, COSY, HSQC, HMBC, NOESY and ROESY). This is the first report of the isolation of (+)-D-pinitol from the genus Zygophyllum.