Novel triterpenoids isolated from hawthorn berries functioned as antioxidant and antiproliferative activities

• Four novel ursane-type triterpenoids, together with 11 known triterpenoids were isolated and identified from hawthorn berries.
• The novel triterpenoids showed high potent inhibitory activity toward the proliferation of HepG2 and MCF-7 cells.
• Some triterpenoids showed high antioxidant activity, which was much higher than ascorbic acid.
• The triterpenoids may be partly responsible for the antitumor activities of hawthorn berries.

Hawthorn berry is a common fruit native to Northern China. Its chemical identity of potent antiproliferative and antioxidant constituents was carried out. Fifteen triterpenoids, including 4 novels, were isolated and identified. The new triterpenoids were elucidated to be 3β,6β,18β-trihydroxy-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (1), 3β,6β,18β,23-tetrahydroxy-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (2), 2α,3β,6β,18β-tetrahydroxy-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (3), and 2α,3β,6β,18β,23-pentahydroxy-olean-12-en-28-oic acid (4), respectively. Antiproliferative and antioxidant activities of the triterpenoids were evaluated. Compounds 2, 3 and 4 showed high potent inhibitory activity toward the proliferation of HepG2 and MCF-7 cells, with the EC50 values were lower than 5 µM. 1 and 10 also exhibited high antioxidant activity in PSC assay, which were 70 and 28 times higher than ascorbic acid in antioxidant capacity. These results showed the triterpenoids isolated from hawthorn berries have potent antiproliferative and antioxidant activity and may be responsible for the anticancer activities of hawthorn berries.