Antioxidant and anti-tumour evaluation of compounds identified from fruit of Amomum tsaoko Crevost et Lemaire

This research was aimed to isolate the active compounds with antioxidant and anti-tumour properties from Amomum tsaoko Crevost et Lemaire, a traditional health food in China. Ethanol (95%) extract and ethyl acetate fraction was found to have significant DPPH radical scavenging activities and cytotoxicities against cervical cancer cell Hela, hepatoma cells HepG-2 and SMMC-7721, and lung cancer cell A549. Four compounds were isolated from ethyl acetate fraction, and compounds III and IV are identified as new compounds. Compounds III and IV showed high DPPH radical scavenging activities. Compound II, III and IV exhibited good anti-tumour activity against HepG-2, SMMC-7721, Hela and A549 cell lines. Compound I showed a strong anti-tumour activity only against Hela cell lines. Compounds III and IV were concluded to be the active compositions responsible for potent antioxidant and anti-tumour properties of A. tsaoko, whose molecular mechanism and pathways of inhibiting tumour cell need to be further studied.