Cardenolides from corchorus olitorius l. seed-leaves

ABSTRACT

Three known cardenolides [Strophanthidin [1], Corchoroside A [2] and Olitoriside [3]] were isolated from the seed-leaves of Corchorus olitorius L. [Tiliaceae]. The cytotoxic activity was evaluated against six cancer cell lines. Compounds 2 and 3 were very potent and their EC50 values against A549 [human lung carcinoma] were 0.06 mug/ml and 0.025 mug/ml, respectively. These compounds were isolated for the first time from the seed-leaves of the plant and this was the first report of the cytotoxicity of compounds 2 and 3