Triterpenoids from the fruits of Melia azedarach L. and their cytotoxic activities

Eleven undescribed tetracyclic triterpenoids, meliazedarachins A-K, along with twenty-six known compounds were isolated from the fruits of Melia azedarach L.. Their structures were determined by HRESIMS, UV, IR, NMR, X-ray diffraction, electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra, and the modified Mosher's method. The cytotoxic activities of all the isolates were measured. Meliazedarachin K and mesendanin N showed cytotoxicity against five human cancer cell lines with IC50 values ranging from 9.02 to 31.31 mu M. Meliazedarachin K showed sigonificant cytotoxicity against HCT116 cell line with IC50 value of 9.02 +/- 0.84 mu M. 21 alpha-methylmelianodiol showed significant cytotoxicity against HCT116 and RKO cell lines with IC50 values of 10.16 +/- 1.22 and 8.57 +/- 0.80 mu M, respectively.

Automated summary

Eleven undescribed tetracyclic triterpenoids, along with twenty-six known compounds, were isolated from the fruits of Melia azedarach L.. Some of these compounds showed significant cytotoxicity against human cancer cells.