Resin glycosides are well known as purgative ingredients, which are characteristic of certain crude drugs such as Mexican Scammony Radix, Orizabae Tuber, and Jalapae Tuber, all of which originate from Convolvulaceae plants. Depending on their solubility in ether, these are roughly classified into two groups-jalapin (soluble) and convolvulin (insoluble). Almost all jalapins hitherto isolated and characterized had common intramolecular macrocyclic ester structures. These are composed of 1 mol of oligoglycoside of hydroxyl fatty acid (glycosidic acid) partially acylated by some organic acids at the sugar moiety, some examples of which are ester-type dimers. On the other hand, convolvulin is regarded as an oligomer of a variety of acylated glycosidic acids. This review describes the isolation and structural elucidation of resin glycosides from some Convolvulaceae plants, including Ipomoea operculata, Pharbitis nil, Quamoclit pennata, Calystegia soldanella, and I. muricata.
Keywords: Convolvulaceae; Convolvulin; Glycosidic acid; Hydroxyl fatty acid; Jalapin; Resin glycoside.