Persicaline, A New Antioxidant Sulphur-Containing Imidazoline Alkaloid from Salvadora persica Roots.

Salvadora persica L. is a popular chewing stick commonly known as "miswak". During our ongoing research activities on the chemical constituents of Salvadora persica roots, which is a new sulphur-containing imidazoline alkaloid 1,3-Dibenzyl-4-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydroxy-butyl)-1,3-dihydro-imidazole-2-thione, persicaline, ( 1 ) along with five known compounds ( 2 - 6 ) are identified. Compounds ( 2 , 3 ) were reported for the first time from the family Salvadoraeceae . The structure of the new compound was established by extensive spectroscopic data and HR-MS. The antioxidant activities of the fractions and isolates were evaluated using different in vitro methods, such as DPPH, superoxide anion and nitric oxide radicals scavenging assays. Compound ( 1 ) showed a promising antioxidant activity with IC50 0.1, 0.08, and 0.09 µM in the three assays, respectively, comparable to ascorbic acid.