A new alkylbenzoquinone named embeliquinone (1) together with five known compounds, lupeol (2), 3-O-[6'-O-palmitoyl-β-d-glucosyl]-spinasta-7,22(23)-diene (3), quercetin (4), (2S,3S,4R,8E)-2-[(2'R)-2'-hydroxy-heneicosanoylamino]-heneicosane-1,3,4-triol-8-ene (5), and β-sitosterol-3-O-β-d-glucopyranoside (6) were isolated from the MeOH leaf extract of Embelia rowlandii by using repeated open column chromatography techniques. The structure of the new compound was characterized by analyses of 1D- and 2D-NMR, and MS data. Embeliquinone (1) had moderate anti-cell proliferation activity against A549 cell line with the IC50 value of 21.8 μM. In addition, 1 exhibited weak antibacterial activities against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Staphylococcus aureus with an MIC value of 206.0 μM in both cases.
Keywords: alkylbenzoquinone; anti-cell proliferation; antimicrobial; embeliquinone.