Macleaya species

The species of the genus Macleaya, namely M. cordata and M. micro-carpa, perennial herbs from the Far East, are used in Russia as a source of the natural mixture of sanguinarine and chelerythrine (called sanguiritrine), that has been introduced into medicine for the treatment of various diseases. The content of QBA in the leaves ofM microcarpa has been found to be unusually high, up to 1.97% [66], The QBA contents in M. microcarpa and M. cordata cultivated in central Europe [37,38] are considerably lower. Similar low yields have been found by Bulgarian, Japanese, and Russian authors [5,6], Chelirubine, chelilutine, and macarpine have also been isolated from Macleaya species [37,38], The alkaloid bocconine [35], isolated from M. cordata (invalid synonym Bocconia cordata Willd.) in 1965, is identical to chelirubine [34], described for the first time in 1954 [30],... 

Alkaloid isolation work is summarized in Table 7. Callus tissues from eleven species of the Papaveraceae (e.g. Macleaya cordata), known as sources of protopines, did... 

Macarpine (15), a very rare hexasubstituted alkaloid, was first isolated from the roots of Macleaya microcarpa (Maxim.) Fedde in 1955 with a yield of 0.002% [37] and later found in M. cordata (Willd.) P. Br. [38], Ch. majus [36,37], some Eschscholtzia species [7], Stylophorum diphyl-lum (Michx.) Nutt. [39], and S. lasiocarpum (Oliv.) Fedde [40], The last-named plant is the best known source of this alkaloid (0.023%). In recent years, dihydromacarpine has been isolated from the cell cultures of ILschscholtzia califomica Cham [41,42]. 

The genus Bocconia Plum, of the tribe Chelidonieae comprises some 10 species that are native to tropical and subtropical areas of Central and South America. Bocconia, which is closely related to the east Asian genus Macleaya, does not appear to contain alkaloids that are taxonomically significant (Tables XXXII and XXXIII). In these two genera the major alkaloids are allocryptopine... 

Allocryptopine C2,H2,N05 369.42 160-161 (a-form) and 169-171 (/8-form) Dactylicapnos macrocapnos, Argemone bocconia, Eschscholl zia. Glaucium, Macleaya, Meconopsis, Papaver. Sanguinaria. Stylomecon. Chelidonium, Thalictrum species 485-91-6 (a-form) and 24240-04-8 (/8-foim)... 

---