Elsevier, South African Journal of Botany, (102), p. 153-156
DOI: 10.1016/j.sajb.2015.06.011
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Croton belongs to the Euphorbiaceae genus, one of the major Angiosperms families, and is widely distributed throughout the world, especially in the tropics. In this study, the hydroalcoholic extract (70% EtOH) of Croton echinocarpus leaves afforded two alkaloids: corydine and norisoboldine, and their structures were established by spectroscopic data interpretation (UV, IR, NMR and LREIMS). Both alkaloids displayed significant in vitro anti-HIV potential, inhibiting 40% of the HIV-1 reverse transcriptase enzyme activity at a concentration of 100μgmL-1 of norisoboldine and 450μgmL-1 of corydine. Corydine showed IC50 of 356.8μgmL-1, while norisoboldine was more efficient on inhibiting the RT activity, showing IC50 of 153.7μgmL-1.