Context: Podocarpium podocarpum (DC.) Yang et Huang (Leguminoseae) is a very important Podocarpium species with significant anti-inflammatory, analgesic and anti-pyretic activities, which has not yet been subjected to adequate phytochemical investigation.
Objective: To isolate and identify bioactive compounds from P. podocarpum.
Materials and methods: Ethanol extract of the whole plant of P. podocarpum was subjected to repeated column chromatography. Chemical structures of the compounds were identified by 1D, 2D-NMR spectra and MS data. Human cervical carcinoma (HeLa) and pancreatic carcinoma (PANC-1) cell lines were employed to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic activity of the isolated constituents at six concentrations (0.001, 0.01, 0.1, 1.0, 10.0, 100.0 μg/ml).
Results: A new phenylpropanoid glycoside, podocarioside A (1), together with four known compounds, (E)-3-(4-hydroxy-3-propoxyphenyl) acrylic acid (2), schizandrin (3), dehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (4) and dihydrodehydrodiconiferyl alcohol (5), were isolated from P. podocarpum. Compounds 1, 3 and 4 showed moderate cytotoxic against HeLa cells with IC50 values of 38.62, 8.64 and 5.85 μg/mL, respectively, while none exhibited toxicity against PANC-1 cells.
Discussion and conclusion: This is the first report on the isolation and identification of bioactive compounds from P. podocarpum. In vitro cytotoxic assay of the isolated constituents establishes the potential of those components as antitumor agents.