New phenolic compounds from Vitex negundo var. heterophylla and their antioxidant and NO inhibitory activities

• Phytochemical investigation of this functional food has been done for the first time.
• Four phenolics were new and four others were obtained from Vitex for the first time.
• The absolute configuration of compound 4 was determined by ECD calculations.
• Most of the phenolics showed strong ABTS radical scavenging activities.
• All the tested isolates exhibited inhibitory effects on LPS-stimulated NO production.

Four new phenolic compounds, vitexnegheteroins A–D (1–4), were isolated from the seeds of Vitex negundo var. heterophylla, together with eight known compounds. Their structures were established on the basis of extensive 1D and 2D NMR experiments, as well as their mass spectroscopic data. The absolute configuration of compound 4 was determined by comparing its experimental CD spectrum with that calculated by the time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) method. The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of these phenolics were also evaluated. Most of the compounds showed strong ABTS radical scavenging activities and all the tested isolates exhibited inhibitory effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced NO production in murine microglial BV-2 cells. The bioactive studies supported the traditional use of this edible aromatic plant and disclosed the potency of it to be developed as new antioxidant and anti-inflammatory functional food.

Graphical AbstractFigure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide