Cytotoxic triterpenes and sterol from the fruit of rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei)

Abstract

Seven triterpenes, α-amyrin (1), uvaol (2), ursolic acid (3), β-amyrin (4), erythrodiol (5), lupeol (6) and betulin (7), two sterols, β-sitosterol (8) and β-sitosterol 3-O-β-glucopyranoside (9), and one flavonoid, syringetin 3-O-α-rhamnopyranoside (10) were isolated from the methanol extract of the fruit of rabbiteye blueberry (Vaccinium ashei). Their chemical structures were determined on the basis of spectroscopic data. Among them, 3, 4 and 9 exhibited moderate growth inhibitory activity against human lung cancer cells (PC-12) and human colon cancer cells (HCT116) using the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay.