A chemical investigation of Sophora flavescens Ait. identified 6 compounds. On the basis of spectroscopic data, they were determined to be flavonoids and their analogues, among which were two previously undescribed compounds, sophoflavanone G (1) and sophoflavanone H (2). The inhibitory effects of new compounds against five human tumour cell lines were evaluated in vitro by MTT assays, which revealed potential inhibitory effects with IC50 values < 20 mM, in particular, compound 1 has shown significant cytotoxicity for several tumour cells with IC50 values around 20 mM, which was similar to cisplatin and potential to be used as tumour drugs.
Keywords: Sophora flavescens; cytotoxicity; flavonoid; isopentene group.