Cancer is one of the most major diseases that threatens human health and life. The aim of this work was to obtain novel anticancer molecules from D. fragrans, a kind of medicinal plant. The structure of the new compound was identified using spectroscopic data (¹H-NMR, 13C-NMR and two dimensions NMR). Its anticancer properties were evaluated using the 3-(4,5-dimethyl-2-thiazolyl)-2,5-diphenyl-2-H-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay against four human cells including lung cancer cells (A549), breast cancer cells (MCF-7), gastric cancer cells (SGC7901) and noncancerous human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). A new phenylpropanoid-(E)-caffeic acid-9-O-β-d-xylpyranosyl-(1→2)-β-d-glucopyranosyl ester (1), with seven known compounds (2-8)-was isolated. The IC50 value of compound 1 against MCF-7 cells was 2.65 ± 0.14 µM, and the IC50 values of compound 8 against three cancer cells were below 20 µM.
Keywords: Dryopteris fragrans (L.) Schott; Fragranoside B; anticancer activity.