Department of Biological Sciences, Florida International University, Miami, Florida 33199, USA.
J Am Chem Soc. 2009 Mar 4;131(8):2830. doi: 10.1021/ja809065g.
The bile pigment bilirubin-IXalpha is the degradative product of heme, distributed among mammals and some other vertebrates. It can be recognized as the pigment responsible for the yellow color of jaundice and healing bruises. In this paper we present the first example of the isolation of bilirubin in plants. The compound was isolated from the brilliant orange-colored arils of Strelitzia nicolai, the white bird of paradise tree, and characterized by HPLC-ESMS, UV-visible, (1)H NMR, and (13)C NMR spectroscopy, as well as comparison with an authentic standard. This discovery indicates that plant cyclic tetrapyrroles may undergo degradation by a previously unknown pathway. Preliminary analyses of related plants, including S. reginae, the bird of paradise, also revealed bilirubin in the arils and flowers, indicating that the occurrence of bilirubin is not limited to a single species or tissue type.
胆红素-IXalpha 是血红素的降解产物，分布于哺乳动物和一些其他脊椎动物中。它可以被认为是导致黄疸和愈合瘀伤的黄色的色素。在本文中，我们首次报道了植物中胆红素的分离。该化合物是从尼古拉鹤望兰（Strelitzia nicolai）鲜艳的橙色假种皮中分离出来的，尼古拉鹤望兰，又名天堂鸟树，其通过 HPLC-ESMS、UV-可见光谱、（1）H NMR 和（13）C NMR 光谱以及与标准品的比较进行了鉴定。这一发现表明，植物环四吡咯可能通过以前未知的途径进行降解。对包括鹤望兰在内的相关植物的初步分析也表明，胆红素存在于假种皮和花朵中，这表明胆红素的存在并不局限于单一物种或组织类型。
