Phenolic constituents of leaves from Persea caerulea Ruiz & Pav; Mez (Lauraceae)

• The phytochemical investigation of Persea caerulea led to the isolation of ten compounds.
• This is the first report of compounds 3 and 7 in the genus Persea, and methylated flavonol 2 in the family Lauraceae.
• The chemosystematic relationship between Persea species is evaluated.

The chemical investigation of the ethanolic extract from the leaves of Persea caerulea led to the isolation of flavonoids, coumarins and three steroidal type compounds. Based on ESI-MS, UV, IR, GC-MS and 1H and 13C NMR data analysis, the structures of ten isolated compounds were identified as: quercetin (1), kaempferide-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranoside (2), kaempferol-3-O-α-l-arabinofuranoside (3), quercetin-3-O-α-l-rhamnopyranoside (4), quercetin-3-O-β-glucoside (5), scopoletin (6), isofraxidin (7) campesterol (8), stigmasterol (9) and β-sitosterol (10). In the current research, the isolated compounds 1–9 are reported for the first time in the species Persea caerulea.