Identification and physiological evaluation of the components from Citrus fruits as potential drugs for anti-corpulence and anticancer

On the basis of monitoring the prevention of accumulation of lipid droplets in mouse 3T3-L1 preadipocyte cells and inhibition of the proliferation of human colon cancer HT-29 cells, effective anti-corpulence and anticancer compounds were isolated from the peel of Citrus fruits. These bioactive components were identified as polymethoxyflavones and coumarin derivatives by spectroscopic analyses. 5-Hydroxy-6,7,8,3',4'-pentamethoxy. avone had the greatest anti-corpulence effects and 3,5,6,7,8,3',5'-heptamethoxyflavone had the greatest anticancer effects. Furthermore, distributions of those bioactive components in the peel of 10 species of Citrus fruits were demonstrated by HPLC analyses. (c) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.