Journal or Scientific & Industri al Research

Yol.60, Jan uary 200 I, j:Jp 1-9

Chemistry and Pharmacology of Rhubarb (Rheum species)- A Review

Santosh K Agarwal *, Sudhir S Singh, Vijai Lakshmi+,
Sushma Verma and Sushi! Kumar
Central Institute of M edicinal and Aromatic Plants (('SIR) , Lucknow 226 015 , India
+Central Drug Researc h In stitute (CSIR), Luck now 226 00 I , Indi a
Various chemica l constituents iso lated from rhubarb (Rheum ) species include an thraquinones, di anthrones, stilbencs.
anthocyanins, n avo noids, anthragl ycos icles , polyphenols , organic acids, essential oi ls, vitamins, chromenes, chromanone and
chromone glycosides . Notable biological ac ti viti es reported rro111
va ri ous parts or th e plant and its iso lates arc cath arti c.
an tibacteri al, fatal poisOfling, antiviral, anti inllammato ry, mollu sciudal , anticoagulant , spas molyti c, cytotoxicity. chronic rcn;ll
failure, chemiluminescence quencing and an ti -p latelet acti vities.

,,,l.

Introduction
Rheum Linn (family polygonaceae; English name:
rhubarb), a large genu s of perenni a l, stout he rbs and distributed in the temperate and sub-tropical regions of the
world, chiefly in Asian countries, viz. India (Kashmir,
Assam, Sikkim), Nepal , Bhutan, China, Pak istan , Korea, Turkey, Ru ss ia and Tibe t. Seve ral species of this
plant are used in medicin e, some for culinary purposes
and few others are grown as ornamental plants. The re
are three main types of rhubarb , viz. the Chinese Rhubarb, the Indian or Himalayan Rhubarb and the Rhapontic
Rhubarb u. Some known s peci es of Rh e um are R.
acuminatum (R-1 ), R. alexandrae (R-2), R. altai cum (R3), R. australe (R-4), R. compactum (R-5), R. coreanum
(R-6), R.corodatum (R-7), R. delavayi (R-8), R. emodi
(R-9), R. franz enbachii (R- 10), R. hotaoense (R-11 ), R.
hybridium (R-1 2), R. kialense (R-1 3), R. /hasa ense (R14), R. maximoviczii (R-15 ), R. moo rcro.fiianum (R-16),
R. nobile (R-17 ), /?. offlcina /e (R-1 8), /?. pa/aestinwn
(R-19 ), R. palmatum (R-20), /?. pami/um (R- 2 1), /?. ribes
(R-22), /?. rhabarbamm (R-23), R. rhaponricwn (R-24),
(R-13 ), R. lhasaense (R-14 ), R. max im oviczii (R- 15 ), /(
moorcrojtianum (R- 16), /?. nobile (R- 17), /?. oJficina /e
(R-1 8), R. palaestinum (R- 19), R. pa/matuiii (R-20), /?.
pamilwn (R-21 ), R. ribes (R-22) , R. rhabarbarwn (R23), R. rhaponticum (R-24), R. spiciform e (R-25), R.
tanguticum (R-26), R. tata ricum (R-27), R. undu/atum
*Author for correspondence
CIMAP Publi cat ion No.: 99-11 R

(R-28) , R. webbianum (R-29), /?. willrockii (R -30) and

R. qinlingense (R-31 ). About te n spec ies are found in
India.
Indian rhubarb , which is offic ial in Indian Pharmacopoeia, consists of the dri ed rhizomes of R. enwdi
and R. webbian um and other species of Rh eum. Rhi zo mes
and roots of R. moorcroftianum and R. spicifonn e are
also reported to be mixed with th e drug. The plant grows
wild at an altitude of about 4000 to 12000 feet. Rhubarb
has been successfully grown in certa in parts of Assam
also. Indian rhubarb occurs in sub-cy lindrica l o r irreg ular pi eces, rangin g from 2 to 20 e m in length and 1.5 to
2.0 em in diameter, much shrunke n, li g ht in we ig ht. It is
some what dark in co lour, almost odourl ess o r so mewhat fragrant with a bitte r and astringe nt taste. It co ntains anthraquinone derivatives and y ie ld s about 25-30
per cent o f ~x trac t so lubl e in 50 pe r cent aqu eous alcoho l' . In ayurvedic pre parations, rhubarb has lo ng been
used as an ing redi e nt of purgatives, laxatives and stomachic-tonics ' ~. It is hoped th at the rev iew would be
useful to th ose work in g in th e fi e ld of phytoc hem ica l
invest igations of rhubarb.

Chemistry
A varie ty of co nst itu ents ha ve been iso lated fro m
Rheum spec ies and the ir stru ctures e lu c id ated. They belong to such classes as anthraquin o nes, clianthron cs, stilbenes, anthocynin s, rla vo no icl s, an thrag lycosid es,
polyphenols, esse nti a l oi l. o rga nic ac id s, chromcnc,

J SCI IND RES VOL.60 JANUA RY 2001

chromano ne, chromone glycos ides and vitamins. Analysis of sampl es of th e rhubarb contained (in perce nt ) as h,
9.3-4.9; protein , 1. 1; fibre, 1.3-0.8; catha rti c acid , 3.53.2; orga ni c ac ids, 3.3-2.2 ; and sugar, 1.4- l . l ; res pectively' .

Essential Oil.\
The essential oil s (0.05 per ce nt) obtained fro m
rhi zo mes of R. cm odi have charac teri sti c odo ur due to
the prese nce of eugenol and meth yl heptyl k e ton e~ . The
vo latil e oil from rhi zo mes of R. poln w lun1 co ntained I08
vola til e components of whi ch 27.3 per cent we re terpenoid s. The main cons tituent s were (per cen t): palmitic
aciu (22. 5) , paeo no l ( 16. 2), a -co paene (9.8), met hyl
stea rate (9.3), 8-cadinen e (5.4), and meth yl-e uge no l
(5. 4)('.
An 1h raquinones
Many an thraq uin ones have bee n iso lated from different spec ies of rhu ba rb. A few of th em are physcion ,
ch rysop hanol (c hryso phani c acid or chryso phan) , rh ein ,
e modi n, aloe-emodi n, rh e inal , hydroxy-me th yl an th raq uin one and Jst izin. Out of these anthraqu inone derivatives, mos t of th e rhubarb spec it.:s co ntain 7 ph ysc ion,
chry ~op h anol, emodi n, al oe-emodin and rh ein as shown
in Tab le I. Indian rhubarb (R. cm odi) was found to co ntain free rhein (0.48) , free chrysophan ol (0.50) and g lycosidic rhein ( 1.52) and glycos idic chrysophanol (0.4 1
pe r cen t) 1. The antimicrobi al acti vit y of rh ein was al so
obse rv ed aga in st Esche richia coli, Bacillus suht iles,
Microco ccus lule us, Candida alb icons. Clost rirliulil
pe1ji-ingr'il.\' and Fusofacle riu/11 voriwn 1. We have also

isolated a new anthraq uin one deri vative rh einal (0.008

p,cr cent) from th e rh izo mes of R. cn wdi ~.

Dianthron es
Rh eidin A is a heterodianthrone co mposed of one
mole of emodin and one mole of rhein anthron e, obtai ned
from 1<. palmatwnx. Simil arl y, three other di anthrones
se nnidin C (o ne mole of aloe-emodin and one mole of
rhcin ), rhci din B (one mole of rhein and one mole of
chrysopha no l), and rheidi n C (o ne mole of rhein <lll d one
mole of physc ion) we re isolated from rhubarb roo ts') .

analyzed the rhubarb extract ( I 00 g) whi ch cont ained

acet ic ac id (8 .5 -39.4), formi c ac id (9.'2-37. 1), oxa lic acid
( 100-638), malic ac id (305-1200) and c itri c acid (207340 mg) . Trace amounts of lac ti c, succ in ic and fumari c
acids were also detected' . Palmiti c ac id co ntent was
found to be 49.3 1 per ce nt in the volatil e oil I I of R.
tanguti cum.

Stilbelles
Rhubarb had many stilbene derivativ es such as
rhaponti cin, deox yrhapo nt ic in , rh apon t ic in-~ -D- g Iucosid , desoxy rh apo nti genin , rh apon ti genin, piceatann ol,
4'-0- meth y Ipice id , rh apon t ige n in -3'-0- ~ -n- gl ucopyranosid e, piceatann ol- 3'-0 - ~ - n -g i ucopy ran os idc (Table
I). Rhapontin wh en ad ministered to ca~t rated female rats
(dose 600 ~Lg) has been reported to res tore the oes trous
cycle. Also, tab lets containin g 5 mg rhapontin and 90
mg of hops-ex tract ex hibited an ac tion sim ilar to th at of
the fo lli cular honn one in th e treatment of am enorrh oea,
dysmenotTh oea and endomet ritis and in inh ibitin g lactation 1.

Flo vonnids
Mainl y two spec ies, R. laWricum and R. \l'il/ mckii.
o f rhubarb gave fl avo no id s s uch as qu e rce tin ,
isoguercetin , meratin, rutin (0.32 per ct: nt) and que rcetin -3 ,7-g lucoarbinosides 12 13 . Rutin ha s been iso lated
from th e foll ow ing Rh eum spec ies (per cent ): R. cnwdi
(0.32), R. officinale ( 1.30), R. rhapol/(icttlll (0.6 1) and
N. undulatum (0 . 7 0 ) 1 ~ . Alyukina ct a/. 1 found th at the
ground part of rhubarb (R. \l'illmck ii ) con ta ined 18 phenolic compounds, seven of whi ch were flav onoids. The
maximum amount of flav onoid s was in th e fl owers and
the immature fruit s (6.57 per cent) . fo ll owed by ripe fruits
and buds (4.60 and4 .1 8 per ce nt, respecti vely).

Anthocycutin s
R. rhaponlicun1 and R. tawricum gave anth ocyanin and th eir deri va ti ves such as cya niclin-3-g lucoside.
cya nidin -3- rutin os ide, chrysa nth emin , ;t nd cya nin 1' 1x.

Organic Acids

Some orga ni c acids ob tained from rhu barb spec ies

arc: oxalic, pa lmitic, acet ic, succ ini c, lacti c, ma li c, cit ric , fumar ic an d form ic (Tab le I). The oxa li c acid content in In dian rhubarb 1 w;:s 1.3-t per ce nt. Mali c ac id
w;,L predominant in al l th e v<~ri e ti es tested I 0. Yas uhiko

Vi to 111 in s
Vit amin B. vitami n C (asco rbic acid) and vit am in
D have been reported from rhubarb11') Its juice proved a
fai rl y good source of vita min C. as tes ted by prophylactic expe riments 1.

AGGARWAL eta/.: CHEM ISTRY & PH ARMA COLOGY OF RH UBARB

Chrom ene, Chrornanone, and Chromon e

211

Six chromone and chromanone deri vatives have

been isolated from rhubarb together with two chromone
g lu cos id es 211 Th ese are : 2,5-dim e th y l- 7- hyd ro xychromene; 2-meth yl-5-acetyl-7- hydroxy-c hromene; 2met hyl-5-carboxy- meth yl- 7-hydrox y-c hromenc; 2-(2'hydroxy l-propy 1-5-meth y 1-7 -hydroxychromene; 2- methyl-5-carbox-ymeth yl-7-h yd roxy chromanone; Aloeso ne-7-0- ~-D- g lu co- py ran os id e and 2- methyl-5- (2'-o xo4'-hydroxypentyl)-7-hydroxy c hromon e -7-0 - ~ -D
glucopyranos ide.

Polyphenols
A large number of polyphenols isolated from different spec ies of rhubarb include: (-)-epi gall ocatec hol,
(+ )-ga ll oca tec hol, (- )-epi gallocatec ho l-gall ocatec hol,
(+ )-gall ocatec ho l ga ll ate, (+)-catec hol, (-)epicatec hol
gallate, catechins, (-)-epicatec hol, (- )-epicatechin ga llate,
ga llic acid, glucoga llin, kaempferol, 4,8'-bis-3-0-galloyl(-)-epicatec hin , 4',8-3-0-galloy 1-(-)-epicatec hin-(+)-catec hin , d-cate c hin , pyroga ll o l, ca r vacro l a nd 4met hoxyga llic ac id . The ast rin ge nt principl e co nsists
chi efl y of ga llic ac id , prese nt as glucoga ll in , together
with small amount of tannin and poss ibl y catec hin .
Glucoga llin on hydroly sis yielded ga lli c acid and glucose1.

The dru g is used in Ayurveda. ln th e Unan i system, it is a constituents of " [tri fa l Mulayy in ", used in
ordin ary constipati on and other di gesti ve disorders, ''Hab
Shabya r" where headache of different intensity are co nsidered clue to a disturbance in th e di ges ti ve system,
" Haba Shafa", for an obstin ate type of co ugh and cold
and of " Roughan Aq rab", appli ed on pil es beca use or
the astrin gent acti on of Rh eum. "Qur Didan" is an anthelmintic' .
Rhubarb forms an important ingredi ent of a \'a riety of medicines. It is an exce ll ent remedy for irrit ation
of the bowels, comm on amon g child ren durin g tee thin g
and in chroni c dyse ntry, du odenal catarrh or ca tarrh of
th e biliary ducts with jaundi ce and in certain sk in d iseases2. Fres h rhubarb juice showed anti sco rbuti c act ivity3
The plant also possesses antibi oti c propcrti es 13 It
is used as an antibacteri al aga inst Stapltvlococcus mm' us,
Esche richia coli or Brucella obortu.1~ . Rhubarb extract
had a laxative effec t due to its co ntent of hyd roxy methyl anthraq uinone and tannin s-' . It also has catharti c effect357 Cooked leaf and stems are harm less in modera te
quantities but th e leaves may cause fa tal pois o nin g ~.
Rhubarb is used as an antiviral agent against Voricello zoster virus and He1pe.1 simplex virtt.\Tubello'x . The
minimal inhibiti ve closes aga in st Voricc llo z.osrer and
HcrJ"Jes simf'J iex vims rubello G J() and JR -,-1 were I 005000 mg/L. It has also shown antiinflammatory act ivityl . Anthraquinones of rhubarb had mo llu sc icidal acti vit y against th e sc hi stoso me vector snail s On colll clunio , Biomphalaria and Bulinw 5 ~. C hrysophanic acid and
cl-catec hin obtained from rhubarb had show n prolongati on of prothrombin time which is a measure of coagui<lting activityn w. Chrysop hano l had been show n to be
res ponsibl e for spas molytic act ivityli 1.
11\

Anthraglycosides
Anthraglycos ides are found almost in all the species of rhubarb and a few of them were: rheochrys in ,
aloe-emod in-8-0- ~ -D-g l ucos ide, emod in-6-0- ~-D-g l ucoside, rh e in- 8- 0-~ -D-g lu cos i de, rheinos ide A, rh einos ide
B, rh ein os ide C and rh e in os ide D, se nn os ide A and
se nn os ide B, t o rac hryso n e - 8 -0-~-D- g lu co p y ra n os id e,
ka e mpfe ro 1- 3-0-a- L-rh a mn os id e, c hryo- phan e i n,
chrysop han o l- 8-0- ~- D-g l ucos id e, emod in -8-0- ~- Dgluco-pyranos ide, chrysop h ano i - 1 -0- ~ -D-g lu cos id e and
rh e in-II - O-~-D-g lu cos id e 2 (Ta ble I).

Pharmacology

Chemiluminescence quenc in g activity was found

to ex ist mainl y in emod in , aloe-emodin and rh ein obtained from rhubarbr' 2 . It ex hibited moderate cy totox ic
ac ti vit y against several types or carc in oma cells due to
it s co nt e nt o f c hr yso phan o i - 1 -0-~-D-g lu coside.
chryso phanein and physcionin ~ . Chin ese rhubarb has
been found to be va luable in preventin g prog ress ion of
chroni c renal failure r,.uo-~ _
1

Rhubarb is large ly used as purgative in wes tern

medi cine. It is a good laxative, stomac hi c, bitter, toni c
and ca th arti c, so it is we ll fitted for use in simpl e diarrh oea2 It is so safe th at it cou ld be given to children as
we ll as old peop le. Its use is prohibited for pati ent s sufferin g from gou t, rh eumati sm, ep il epsy and uri c acid .
troubles. Powdered roots arc used fo r cleanin g tee th and
are also sp rinkl ed over ul ce rs for quick healin g.

Ant i-platelet aggregati on activity of stiIbene dcri \'ali ves fr o m /?. undttlurttnt has a lso bee n obser\'ed.
Rh aponti ge nin and deso xyrh apo nti gen in ha ve shown
strong inhi biti on of agg rega ti on induced by arachid onic
acid and co ll age n11 . The rhubarb stalk fibre is c!Tccti ve

J SCI IND RES VOL.60 JANUARY 2001

Table I -

Sl. No.

Li st or compou nds iso lated from

Name o f co mpound

illere nt spec ies or rhubarb

Name o r plant

R e fe ren ce ~

Essential Oils
Euge no l, bp, 255"

R-9

Meth yl hep tyl ket one

R-9

Paeono l

R-20

a -Co pa ene. bp, 246-25 1"

R-20

Methyl stearate

R-20

P-Cadi ne ne

R-20

R-20

2 1-29

(aj 0

5
6

6.3" (c= 1.2 in C HC I1 ).

[a]o-25 1"

Meth yl-e ugeno l

Anthraquinones

Ph ysc io n, mp. 2 10"

Rhubarb, R-9 , R-20. R- 18,

C hrysophano l or Chrysophan

Rhubarb, R-9, R-20. R- 18.

Chrysophanic ac id , mp, 196"

R-26. R-10 . R-22, R- 16.

10

Aloe-emodin, mp. 223 -224"

Rhubarb, R-9, R-20. R- 18.

II

Emodin, mp. 256-257"

R-26. R- 10. R-22. R- 16. R-31

I . 2 1-31

R-24. R-27
4, 2 1-23. 25-28, 32

R-26, R-1 0, R-6

Rhubarb, R-9. R-20, R- 18,

4. 2 1-23. 25-3 1

R-26, R- 10, R 24, R- 16. R-27

12

Hydroxy- methy l anthraqui no ne

Rhubarb ,

Rhubarb, R-9, R-20. R- 18.

1-4.2 1-24.26-28 .

mp , 302"
13

Rh ein, mp , 32 1-322"

30
R-26. R- 10. R-22. R-24
14

Rhein a l, mp , 236-238"

R-9

15

Isti zin

Rhu barb

I , 33

R-20

3, 8

Dian thrones
16

Rh eidin A

17

Sennidin C

Rhubarb

3.9

18

Rhe idin B

Rhubarb

3, 9

19

Rhe idin C

Rhubarb

3,9

Rhu barb

4.5

Organi Acids
20

Oxa li c acid, mp, 101 - 102"

21

Palmitic acid, mp, 63 -64"

22

Aceti c ac id , bp , 11 8"

R-20. R-26
Rhubarb

5, 10

- Contd.

AGGARWAL eta /.: C HEMISTRY & PHARMACOLOGY OF RH UBARB

Table I -

Li st of compounds isolated from different species of rhubarb -

Contd.

23

Succinic ac id , mp, 185- 187"

Rhubarb

5, 10

24

Lac ti c acid, mp , 53"

Rhubarb

5, 10

[a] 0

2.6"

25

Malic acid, mp , 13 1-1 32"

Rhubarb , R-1 2

5, 10

26

C itric ac id , mp , !53"

Rhubarb

5, 10

27

Fumaric acid, mp , 230"

Rhubarb

10

28

Formic ac id , bp , I 00.5''

Rhubarb

10

Rh apon ti cin o r Rh apontin

Rhubarb , R-22, R-24,

24, 34-37

mp, 236-237"dcc

R-20, R- 18, R- 11

Stilbenes
29

[a] 0

59.5" (Ace to ne)

30

Deo xyrh apo nti cin

R-24, R-30

34,38,39

31

Rh apo nti c in-~- D-g lu cos id e

R-9, R- 20, R-24

4,40, 41

mp, 230-231 "

32

Desoxyrh aponti genin

R-28

42 , 43

33

Rh apont ige nin, mp , 185"

R-28 , R-1 I

2!i , 37 , 42 , 43

34

Piceata nn o l, mp , 23 1-232"

R-2 8, R-30

28 , 39 , 42 , 43

35

4'-0-Methylpiccid

R-20

41

36

Picea tanno i-4'-0-

R-30

39

R-28

44

R-28

37 , 44

- ~ -D-g lu co p y ran oside

37

Rhaponti ge nin -3'-0-~-D- g lu co p y ra n os id e

38

Piceatannol-3'-0-~-D

g lu copy ranos ide (Rhe umin )

Flavonoids
39

Quercetin, mp, 3 14" dec

R-27, R- 30

12, 13

40

lsoq uercetin , mp, 225-227"

R-27, R-30

12, 13

41

Meratin, mp, 180"

R-27

12

42

Rutin , mp, 2 14-2 15" dec

Rhubarb, R-27, R- 30,

12- 14

R-30

!3

Rhubarb , R-24

15-17

[a] 0 + 13.82" (E th anol)

43

Quercetin -3,7- glu coarbi nos ides

Anthocyanins
44

Cyanidin-3-g lu coside mp, 205" dec

Contcl.

J SC I IND RES VO L.60 JANUA RY 2001

45

Table I - Li st o r compounds isol<11cd from di lfero.:n t species of rhubarb - Contd..

Cya nidi n-3- rut inosidc
Rhuh:1rb, R-24

15- 17

46

Ch rysant hcmin . mp. 205" dec

R-27

18

47

Cya n in

R-27

Ill

R- 11

37

S terols

48

~-S it os t ero l .

49

Daucostcrol

R- 11

37

50

Vit amin B

Rhu ba rb

51

Vit am in C (Asco rbic acid)

Rh ubarb

4, 6. 19

Rh ubarb

mp. 140"

fa iD- 37" (C HCI,J

Vitamins

mp. 190-92", Ja iD + 4X" (MeO II)

52

Vita min D

Chnnncnc, Chromanone and Chmmonc

53

2.5- Dirncthyl-7 -hydroxy- chromcnc

Rhubarb. R-30

20.

5-1

2-Mcthyl-5-acctyl-7-

Rhu barb

20

Rh ubarh

20

Rh uba rb

20

Rhubarb

20

Rhuba rb

20

Rhubarb

20

(- )-Epigall ocatec hul

R- 15

45

(+)-Gal locatcchol

R- 15

-15

(- )-Epigalloca tec hol- gal locatcchol

R- 15

45

()-Galloca t..:cho l-ga IIat..:

R- 15

3. -16-..JX

]<)

hyJ roxy-c hro mc nc

55

2-Mcth yl-5-carboxy
mcthyl-7 -hydroxy-c hro mcnc

56

2-(2'- H ydro~y lp ropy l -5mct hyl-7 -hydro xyc hromcnc

57

2-Mcth yl-5-carboxymcth yl7-hydroxy chro manonc

5X

A l ocso n c-7-0-~- D-

gluco pyranosidc
59

2-Mcthyl-5-(2'-nxo-..J'hydroxypc nt yl )-7- hydroxy

c hromnnc-7 -0- ~ - 1 )-glucopyranosidc

Polyphcnols
60

(+)-Catechol. mp. 212-2 16"

R-20. R-27 . R-30. R-15

] . ..J . 9. 27. -17

(-)-Epica tcc hol -gallatc

R-20. R-27

46,-17

66

(- )-Epicatcchol

R-27. R- 15

-17 . ..)<)

67

(- )-Epicatcchin-gal latc

R-20. R-1 X. R-3. R- 10. R- 13

Contd.

AGGARWAL eta/.: C HEMISTRY & PHARMACOLOGY OF RHUBARB

Tabl e I 68

69

Li st of compounds i so lated from different spec ies or rhubarb

Gallic acid, mp . 235-240"

Glucogall in

Contd.

3
R-2 0. R- 18. R-3

3.37.48

R-20, R- 18, R-7

R-3. R- 10. R- 13
70

Kaempfcro l , mp. 276-278"

Rhub arb

20

71

4. 8'-bi s-3 -0-Ga ll oy l-(- )-epi ca techi n

Rhubarb

50

72

4 .8'-3- 0 -Gall oy l-(- )-ep ica techi n

Rhubarb

50

-(+)-catechin

73

Pyroga ll o l, mp. 13 1- 13:1''

74

Carvacrol , bp. 11 8- 122"

R- 15

48

75

4-Methoxygallic acid

R-1 5

48

An t hraglycosides

76

Rh eochrys in

R-2 0

51

77

Aloe-emodi n- 8-0-~-D-gl u cosid<:

R-28. R-20

27.44. 51

mp 237-238"

78

Emod i n-6-0-~- 0 -g lu cosidc

R-20

27 .51

79

Rhcin-8-0-0-D -glucoside

R-13. R- 8. R- 30.

27. 52

mp, 260-266"

R-2 1. R-1 4, R-26. R-20

Rhein- I 1 -0-~-D-gluw si dc

R-9

Rhub arb. R-2, R- 14.

52-54

mp. 247-25 1"

Rhcinoside A

R- 26. R- 8, R-2 0. R- 13
Rh ci nos id e 8

Rhubarb

53

Rhcinoside C

Rhubarb. R-2 . R-1 4. R-26.

52-5 4

R-8 . R-20. R-1 3. R-2 1. R-3 0

84

Rhcin os idc D

85

Scnnosidc A. mp. 200-2 40'' dec.

R-30. R-14. R-6 . R-26. R-8.

[u.Jn - 164" (Acetone)

R-2 0. R- 13

Scnnns id c B. mp. I Hll- 186" dec

R-6 . R-20

Rhubarb. R-2. R-14 . R-26,

52-54

R- 8. R-20. R- 13. R-2 1. R-30

8(i

fain-

3.5 2.5 4. 55

3. 55

100" (Acclonc)

87

St.:nnosidc C. mp. I 1)7"

Rhubarb

88

Scnn os idc D. 1np. 21()"

Rhubarb

C hrysoph a no 1-8-0- ~~ -

R-28

-( 6' -gal loyl)-g l uL , 'I') !'<'IH side

- Co ntd.

J SC I I ND RES VOL.60 JA NUARY 200 1

Table I -

Li st o f compounds iso lated from different speci es or rhubarb

- Contd

90

A l oe-cmod in - 1 -0-~- - D-glu co pyra n oside

R- 28

56

91

Tora c hr yso n e-8-0-~-

Rhubarb, R-28

20

-D-g lu copy ranosidc

92

K aempferol-3-0-a-L-rhamnosidc

Rhu barb

20

93

Ch rysop han ein . mp. 246"

R-20

94

Ch rysop h an o i- 8-0-~-D-g lu cosi d c

R-28. R- 3 1

44. 56

R-28. R-3 1

44.56

Rhu ba rb

41

R- 3 1

56

R- 3 1

56

mp, 245-246"

95

Emod i n -8- 0 - ~-D- glucopy ra nnsi de

mp, 2 10-2 11 "

96

C hr ysop h a n o i-1-0 -~- D-g l ucos i dc

mp. 248-249"

97

C hr ysop h a n o i- 8-0-~-D-

-(6 '-mal onyl)-g lucopyranosidc

98

Physcion-8-0-~-D-glu cos id c

in lo weri ng serum cholesterol concentrati ons, especiall y

LDL cholesterol, in hypercholesterolemi c men1''.

Conclusion
Rhubarb possesses wide range of bio log ica l activ iti es and have revealed co mpound s of many chemi cal
classes . Ninety eight co mpound s iso lated from these
species include five flavon oids , twe lve anthraquin ones,
ten stilbenes, sixteen po lyphenols and tw enty-t hree
anthrag lycos ides and rest others. It is believed that thi s
rev iew would be of immense use for resea rchers workin g in the fi eld of ph ytochemi ca l in vest igat ions.

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-19