International Journal of Farming and Allied Sciences Available online at www.ijfas.com ©2014 IJFAS Journal-2014-3-10/1065-1068/ 31 October, 2014 ISSN 2322-4134 ©2014 IJFAS Phytochemical studies of Some Terpene compounds in roots of Cynara scolymus Alireza Shakeri 1* and Mahsa Ahmadian 2 1.School of chemistry, University College of science, University of Tehran, P.O. Box 13145-1357, Tehran, Iran 2.Department of Chemistry, university of Golestan, Gorgan, IRAN Corresponding author: Alireza Shakeri ABSTRACT: Artichoke (cynara scolymus) belongs to Astraceae family. It is native to the central Mediterranean, but now cultivated in many parts of the world. This plant has different therapeutic properties, including anti-cancer. The purpose of this investigation was clarify some new terpene compounds from the root Cynara scolymus. Two terpenes have been isolated from the hydrocarbon fraction of Cynara scolymus essential oil using column chromatography. The structure formulae of the compounds Taraxasterol and Lupeol were determined using one and two dimensional 1 H NMR and 13 C- NMR spectroscopic. Keywords: Artichoke, Terpene compounds, Taraxastero, Lupeol, NMR spectroscopy INTRODUCTION Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.), a plant from the family Asteraceae, is cultivated in the Mediterranean zone for the consumption of its flower bud (Mencarelli et al. 1993). Apart from being consumed as fresh and canned vegetables, artichokes are traditionally used as a medicinal plant (Schütz et al. 2006). Globe artichoke ( Cynara cardunculus L. subsp. scolymus L.), belonging to the Asteraceae (Compositae) family, is an herbaceous perennial plant native to the Mediterranean area (Raccuia, 2005), where about 90% of world production is found with million tons on 133,326 Ha (Faostat, 2009). Several uses such as (i) human food as a typical component of the Mediterranean diet, (ii) lignocellulosic biomass for energy (Angelini et al. 2009; Ierna and Mauromicale, 2010) and paper pulp (Gominho et al. 2001), (iii) seed oil for biodiesel fuel production (Raccuia and Melilli 2004), (iv) roots for insulin (Raccuia and Melilli 2004,) are considered for the species. Plant steroids are among the most basic components of natural vegetation to have therapeutic uses( Gonella 2003). Research as shown that many herbal steroids such as Lupeol and Taraxasterol has two important properties such as inhibition of tumor growth and help regulate blood cholesterol in humans. Lupeol, a triterpene, which may help slow the growth of cancer cells. Studies have shown that Lupeol specific pharmacological properties including anti-inflammatory properties. Taraxasterol, A monohydroxy triterpene. In this study, we describe the isolation of some terpene from the root parts of Cynara scolymus as well as the elucidation of their structures using spectroscopic analysis. MATERIALS AND METHODS Spectroscopic measurements One dimensional (1D) NMR ( 1 H NMR and 13 CNMR, DEPT 90) and two dimensional (2D) NMR spectra were recorded in deuterated solvent MeOD on Burker AM-400 MHz spectrometer. Chemical shifts were measured in ppm and coupling constants (J) are given in Hz. UV spectrum was recorded on UNICAM – UV300 spectrophotometer. Column chromatography was carried out using silica gel 60 Merck, 230-400 mesh). Thin layer chromatography (TLC) was done on silica gel 60 F254 plates.