Dehydropyrrolizidine Alkaloids, Including Monoesters with an Unusual Esterifying Acid, from Cultivated Crotalaria juncea (Sunn Hemp cv.'Tropic Sun')

Cultivation of Crotalaria juncea L. (Sunn Hemp cv. 'Tropic Sun') is recommended as a green manure crop in a rotation cycle to improve soil condition, help control erosion, suppress weeds, and reduce soil nematodes. Because C. juncea belongs to a genus that is known for the production of toxic dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids, extracts of the roots, stems, leaves, and seeds of 'Tropic Sun' were analyzed for their presence using HPLC-ESI/MS. Qualitative analysis identified previously unknown alkaloids as major components along with the expected macrocyclic dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloid diesters, junceine and trichodesmine. The dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloids occurred mainly as the N-oxides in the roots, stems, and, to a lesser extent, leaves, but mainly as the free bases in the seeds. Comprehensive spectrometric and spectroscopic analysis enabled elucidation of the unknown alkaloids as diastereoisomers of isohemijunceine, a monoester of retronecine with an unusual necic acid. The dehydropyrrolizidine alkaloid contents of the roots, stems, and leaves of immature plants were estimated to be 0.05, 0.12, and 0.01% w/w, respectively, whereas seeds were estimated to contain 0.15% w/w.