In vitro cytotoxic activity-guided isolation studies on the underground parts of Valeriana speluncaria Boiss

Two unreported neolignans, speluncarins A (1) and B (2) together with seven known compounds (3-8, 13) were isolated from the underground parts of Valeriana speluncaria Boiss through cytotoxic activity-guided fractionation method. The crude extract, subextracts, main fractions and isolates were evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activities against MCF-7 and U87 cancer cell lines as well as HUVEC cell line by MTS assay. Although the crude EtOH extract, CHCl3 and EtOAc subextracts as well as some fractions exhibited remark-able cytotoxic effect against tested cancer cell lines, the purified compounds did not demonstrate promising activity in the tested concentrations. Besides these studies, five known lignan glucosides (8-12) were obtained from the inactive n-BuOH subextract. The structures of the isolates were elucidated by extensive 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy and HR-MS analysis. This is the first phytochemical and bioactivity study on V. speluncaria, an endemic species to Turkey. (C) 2022 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.