3β-O-tigloylmelianol from Guarea kunthiana: a new potential agent to control Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus, a cattle tick of veterinary significance

Molecules. 2014 Dec 23;20(1):111-26. doi: 10.3390/molecules20010111.

Abstract

Chemical investigation of Guarea kunthiana fruits, guided by their effect on the reproductive cycle of engorged females of the cattle tick Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus-a major economic problem to the livestock industry worldwide-led to isolation of 3β-O-tigloylmelianol, a new protolimonoid, from the bioactive hexane phase obtained by partitioning the crude ethanol extract. An adult immersion test was performed. The compound strongly inhibited egg-laying and hatchability (99.2% effectiveness at a 0.01% concentration). Melianone, isolated from the same phase, yielded unremarkable results in the adult immersion test. From the dichloromethane phase, melianol, melianodiol, meliantriol, and a new protolimonoid, 3β-O-tigloylmeliantriol, were isolated, all of which, in the same manner as melianone, exhibited unremarkable results in the test. The structures of new and known compounds were mostly established by 1D- and 2D-NMR analyses and mass spectrometry data. This is the first report on the bioactivity of protolimonoids on the reproductive cycle of engorged females of R. (B.) microplus. 3β-O-Tigloylmelianol proved a promising candidate for the development of a biocontrol agent against the cattle tick investigated, as an alternative to environmentally hazardous synthetic acaricides.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Acaricides / pharmacology*
  • Animals
  • Cattle / psychology*
  • Cattle Diseases / parasitology*
  • Female
  • Limonins / isolation & purification
  • Limonins / pharmacology*
  • Meliaceae / chemistry*
  • Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Rhipicephalus / drug effects*
  • Rhipicephalus / pathogenicity
  • Spectrometry, Mass, Electrospray Ionization

Substances

  • 3beta-O-tigloylmelianol
  • Acaricides
  • Limonins