Constituents from Sarcotestas of Ginkgo Fruits

Ginkgo tree (Ginkgo biloba, Family: Ginkgoaceae) is called as a living fossil, as one of the oldest trees still living on earth. The tree has a high economic value. Numerous ginkgo plantations have been developed over the world because of the increasing demand of ginkgo leaves [1]. Unlike the leaves, the fruits of ginkgo have not been well utilized. A ginkgo fruit consists of a soft and fleshy section (the sarcotesta), and a hard section (the sclerotesta). Previous pharmacological studies have reported that the extract of sarcotestas has various bioactivities including antibacterial, anti-tumor, pesticidal, mutagenic, allergenic, anti-HIV and immunomodulatory properties [2,3]. In the present study, a phytochemical investigation of the constituents of sarcostetas of ginkgo fruits led to isolation and identification of twenty three compounds. Four of them were new (compounds 1–4). The structures of compounds 1–3 are unusual and have not been reported in nature yet. Their structures were elucidated by using spectroscopic, spectrometric and chemical methods. The biosynthesis pathways of compounds 1–3 are also proposed. Acknowledgements: The authors would like to thank Dr. Bharathi Avula for recording the mass spectrometric data. This work was funded by the FDA/CFSAN grant entitled “Science Based Authentication of Dietary Supplements” Number 2 U01 FD 002071-07. References: [1] van Beek, T. A. (2000) Ginkgo biloba. Harwood Academic, Australia. [2] Duan, R. (2002) Shipin Yu Fajiao Gongye, 28(8), 57–61. [3] Jaggy, H.; Koch, E. (1997) Pharmazie, 52(10), 735–738.