2014/05/04 by Jie Li, Pan Li, C. Benjamin Naman +4 · 1 citation
Medicine · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Phytochemicals and Antioxidant Activities #Food Chemistry and Fat Analysis #Advances in Cucurbitaceae Research #Traditional medicine #Berry #Biology #Botany #Toxicology #Food science #Medicine
paper · pdf · doi:10.1021/jf500802x
openalex publication_date 2014/05/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Bioassay-guided fractionation of a commercial sample of African mango (Irvingia gabonensis) that was later shown to be contaminated with goji berry (Lycium sp.) led to the isolation of a new pyrrole alkaloid, methyl 2-[2-formyl-5-(hydroxymethyl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl]propanoate, 1, along with seven known compounds, 2-8. The structures of the isolated compounds were established by analysis of their spectroscopic data. The new compound 1g showed hydroxyl radical-scavenging activity with an ED50 value of 16.7 μM, whereas 4-[formyl-5-(methoxymethyl)-1H-pyrrol-1-yl]butanoic acid (2) was active in both the hydroxyl radical-scavenging (ED50 11.9 μM) and quinone reductase-induction [CD (concentration required to double QR activity) 2.4 μM)] assays used. The isolated compounds were shown to be absent in a taxonomically authenticated African mango sample but present in three separate authentic samples of goji berry (Lycium barbarum) using LC-MS and (1)H NMR fingerprinting analysis, including one sample that previously showed inhibitory activity in vivo in a rat esophageal cancer model induced with N-nitrosomethylbenzylamine. Additionally, microscopic features characteristic of goji berry were observed in the commercial African mango sample.