Secondary Metabolites of Astragalus cruciatus Link. and Their Chemotaxonomic Significance

In continuation of our chemical studies on the secondary metabolites of Algerian saharan species, we report on the isolation, from the methanol extract of the whole plant Astragalus cruciatus Link. , of seven known compounds including two saponins named azukisaponin V (1) and astragaloside VIII (2), four flavonoids called narcissin (3), nicotiflorin (4), kaempferol 3-O- α -L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 ¦ 4)- α -L-rhamnopyranosyl-(1 ¦ 6)-β-D-glucopyranoside (5) and 5,7,2’-trihydroxyflavone (6) and one phytosterol glycoside, daucosterol (7). All the isolated compounds were characterized by using spectroscopic methods especially 1D and 2D NMR and ESI mass spectrometry and comparison with literature data . The chemotaxonomic and systematic characters of the genus Astragalus are summarized in this study to show its interesting chemodiversity throughout the world, as well as to establish the chemotaxonomical classification of this genus.