Mauritic acid: a new dammarane triterpene from the roots of Mauritia flexuosa L.f. (Arecaceae)

• Published in: Natural product research Vol. 27; no. 22; pp. 2118 - 2125
• Main Authors: Koolen, Hector H.F., Soares, Elzalina R., da Silva, Felipe M.A., de Oliveira, Aimêe A., de Souza, Antonia Q.L., de Medeiros, Lívia S., Rodrigues-Filho, Edson, Cavalcanti, Bruno C., Pessoa, Cláudia O., Moraes, Manoel O., Salvador, Marcos J., de Souza, Afonso D.L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Taylor & Francis 01.11.2013
• Subjects: antimicrobial activity; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - chemistry; Antineoplastic Agents, Phytogenic - isolation & purification; Arecaceae - chemistry; Cell Line, Tumor; cytotoxic activity; Drug Screening Assays, Antitumor; Humans; Mauritia flexuosa; triterpene; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Molecular Structure; Plant Roots - chemistry; Triterpenes - chemistry; Triterpenes - isolation & purification
• ISSN: 1478-6419; 1478-6427
• DOI: 10.1080/14786419.2013.793685

A new dammarane triterpene named mauritic acid (1) was isolated from the roots of Mauritia flexuosa L.f. The complete structural assignment of this new compound was elucidated from spectroscopic methods. Moreover, this compound was evaluated for its cytotoxicity against human cancer cell lines (OVCAR-8, PCM3, NCIH358M and different leukaemia cell strains). The mauritic acid presented significant cytotoxicity against OVCAR-8, PCM3 and NCIH358M cell lines with IC 50 3.02, 2.39 and 6.19 μM, respectively. The triterpenes 1 and 2 were also tested for their antimicrobial activity against 15 strains of microorganisms, including fungi and bacteria, with the best minimal inhibitory concentration values ranging from 50.8 to 203.5 μM.