Study on the chemical constituents and antitumor activity of galangal

Objective:The main chemical components of galangal(Alpinia officinarum Hance)are flavonoids and diarylheptanes.In the previous work,the total heptane and total flavonoid components of galangal were isolated.In this paper,the two components were separated.The monomeric compound was purified and its cytotoxic activity was determined.Methods:Silica gel column chromatography,ODS column chromatography,preparative thin layer chromatography,preparative and semi-preparative HPLC methods were used to separate and purify the total heptane components and total flavonoid components of galangal.Structures of compounds were identified by 1H-NMR,13C-NMR modern spectroscopic techniques combined with literature.The cytotoxic activity of the isolated compounds against MDA-MB-231(breast cancer),HepG-2(liver cancer)and MKN-45(gastric cancer)cells was tested by CCK-8 method.Results:Six compounds were isolated from the total heptane fractions of galangal,and three compounds were isolated from the total flavonoids of galangal.Their structures were identified as:5-hydroxy-7-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenylheptan-3-one(1),(E)-7-(4-hydr-oxy-3-methoxyphenyl)-1-phenylhept-4-en-3-one(2),5-hydroxy-1,7-diphenylheptan-3-one(3)7-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-5-methoxy-1-phenylheptan-3-one(4),(E)-7-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1-phenylhept-4-en-3-one(5),(E)-1,7-diphenylhept-4-en-3-one(6),pinocembrin(7),galangin(8),3-O-methylgalangin(9).Conclusion:Compounds 1-6 were isolated from the total heptane components of galangal,and compounds 7-9 were isolated from the total flavonoids of galangal.The results of CCK-8 showed that compounds 2,3,5,6,7 and 8 had weak antitumor activity.