NOVEL NEMATOCIDAL AGENTS FROM CURCUMA-COMOSA

Cuvcuma comosa is a member of the economically important plane family, Zingiberaceae. A methanolic extract of C. comosa was shown to be nema tocidal when tested against the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis el egans. Five diphenylheptanoids [1-5], one new and four known, have bee n isolated and shown to be responsible for the activity. This is the f irst report of three of these compounds [1, 2, 4] being isolated from a natural source.