One new triterpenoid saponin orychoside A (1) and one new diterpene glucoside orychoside B (12), together with eleven known compounds, were isolated from the seeds of Orychophragmus violaceus. The structures of the new compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. The known compounds were identified by comparison with data reported in the literature. All compounds were tested for their cytotoxic activities against the HepG2 and A549 cell lines in vitro. The new compound 1 exhibited potent cytotoxicity against the two cell lines with IC50 values of 7.13 and 8.77 μM, respectively. Compounds 2, 5, 8 and 9 were found to possess obvious cytotoxicity.
Keywords: cytotoxicity; diterpene glucoside; triterpenoid saponin.