Philippine Journal of Science 134 (1): 63-67, June 2005 ISSN 0031 - 7683 63 Consolacion Y. Ragasa * and Kathleen Lim Key Words: Araliaceae, oleanolic acid, lutein, hydrocarbons, fatty alcohols *Corresponding author: ragasac@dlsu.edu.ph Secondary Metabolites from Schefflera odorata Blanco Chemistry Department, De La Salle University 2401 Taft Avenue, Manila 1004, Philippines INTroDUCTIoN Schefflera odorata Blanco, commonly known as “five fingers” is a famous indoor plant. The biological activities of the plant include treatment of asthma, liver diseases, rheumatism, arthritis, sprains, fracture, stomach pain, antipyretic, anti-inflammatory, analgesic, migraine, and general tonic (Quisumbing 1978). A saponin was reported to be potential modulator of the cell-signalling pathway (De Castro-Bernas & ramos 2001). Although there is only one reported study on S. odorata, a number of studies have been reported on the congener of the plant. A betulinic acid glycoside was isolated from S. venulosa (Purohit et al. 1991). oleanolic acid, a bidesmosidic triterpene saponin, and a trisaccharide were isolated from S. octophylla (Sung et al. 1991). S. lucantha afforded triterpenoid glycosides (Pancharoen et al. 1994). The aerial parts of S. divaricata produced triterpenoid saponins (De Tommasi et al. 1997). Triterpenoid saponins, along with oleanolic acid (Srivastava & Jain 1989) and a new triterpene (Shrivastava 1992) were obtained from S. impressa. The leaves of S. bodinieri afforded triterpenoids and a triterpene glycoside (Zho et al. 1996), while the roots of the plant afforded triterpene glycosides (Zho et al. 1996). The leaves of Schefflera odorata afforded oleanolic acid (1), lutein (2), fatty alcohols, and hydrocarbons. The structure of 1 was elucidated by extensive 1D and 2D NMR analyses, while the structure of 2 was deduced by comparison of its 1 H NMR spectral data with those of lutein. We now report the isolation, and full structure elucidation by 1D and 2D NMr spect roscopy of oleanolic acid (1) from S. odorata. Lutein (2), fatty alcohols, and hydrocarbons were also obtained from the dichloromethane extract of the air-dried leaves of the plant. MATErIALS AND METHoDS General NMr spectra were recorded on a Bruker Avance 400 in CDCl 3 at 400 MHz for 1 H NMr and 100 MHz for 13 C NMr. Column chromatography was performed with silica gel 60 (70-230 mesh); TLC was performed with plastic backed plates coated with silica gel F 254 ; plates were visualized by spraying with vanillin-H 2 So 4 and warming. Sample Collection and Extraction Fresh leaves of the plant material were collected from Tandang Sora Ave., Quezon City in May 2001. The plant was identified as Schefflera odorata at the Philippine National Museum by Wilfredo F. Vendivil and a voucher specimen # 040 is kept at the Chemistry Department, De La Salle University. RESEARCH NOTE