Wax and resin components of Leptadenia reticulata

Abstract

Past work on the chemical components of a number of plants of the family Asclepiadaceae is reviewed. They are found to contain resinols though many of these were originally mistaken for sterols. With a view to test if this is an invariable rule another member, Leptadenia reticulata, has now been studied. The major portion of the wax consists of aliphatic wax esters derived from long-chain alcohols (C₂₈–C₃₄) and long-chain acids (C₂₈–C₂₂). Considerable amount of sterols occur free and the mixture seems to consist mostly of stigmasterol along with smaller amounts of sitosterols of which γ-sitosteral could be characterised. No resinols could be detected.